CHAPTER SIX—EPILOGUE
The night was a strange mix of emotions. David and Mrs. Barnes were both saved thanks to their proactive treatments, but late in the night, everyone got the call that Mei-Lin had passed away at home. Mrs. Barnes was devastated, but her husband and son were with her, though that provided little comfort. Now that she knew it was the vitamin she had taken, the vitamin that she pushed on her teen daughter, that killed her, she and everyone in their circle wanted to combat the dangerous effects.
Early the next morning, Brain entered his office and picked his ringing phone off the hook. It was a man from the Food and Drug Administration, a Dr. Richmond, calling about launching a nation-wide recall. He needed Dr. Powers' reports, all of them, plus any evidence they had. An agent would arrive on the earliest flight—
"Hell, they're probably there now," Dr. Richmond laughed, clearing his throat, "This is major. We need everything you've got now so we can pass it off to the national media. Weren't there some people who sought treatment, people you saved?"
"Two," Brain confirmed, passing off David and Mrs. Barnes' names to the doctor, "and we feel this is the best way to approach the recall. Stop taking the supplement immediately and report to a local medical center as fast as possible to have the dangerous clots removed."
Dr. Richmond nodded, "That is what we are proposing. I'm surprised you all figured it out before the CDC did. We've been in contact with them for months because of the rise in strokes. They've been sending things to our lab, and we've even had these vitamins sent to us, but they seemed not to contain anything dangerous. Now that you've discovered that is the one and only link between your cases, there must be something dangerous within them. We'll begin testing immediately, and the news outlets already know about everything. We just need to feed them the facts."
The call ended without any goodbye's, but Brain knew this was no time for standard niceties. He flipped on his computer and pulled up CNN on his computer. A video headline was listed as BREAKING NEWS containing information about the recall and rash of strokes. Brain watched it and realized things were far worse than they realized:
"The Food and Drug Administration has announced a nationwide recall on a popular vitamin supplement that is said to cause debilitating strokes. Officials say millions have already been effected, and if you or anyone you know has been taking the pills to stop immediately, flush them down the drain, and get to a hospital stat. New York City hospitals have confirmed an influx of patients who have taken the pills, and doctors confirm most need life-saving treatments to avoid having any more strokes," an anchor said with an emotional tone.
Their partner's jaw dropped in amazement, "More strokes?"
"That is the shocking thing in this case. Apparently the bottle lists symptoms similar to small strokes, such as numbness and tingling, which keeps people from seeking treatment. As the strokes go untreated, the situation only gets worse, putting them at higher risk of having a major stroke. As this is a new discovery, the FDA and CDC are unsure of how many people have passed away because of these strokes, but they have said that multiple age ranges have been effected. This is not an old or young thing—"
"It's effecting every part of the population that took these supplements," their partner jumped in, shaking his head.
Brain closed out of the browser window and thought about how bad this could get. Because many people supported the brand, there might be people who choose not to seek treatment, or people who choose not to stop taking the pills, because they believe the media is lying to them and attacking their healthy lifestyle. He'd studied numerous dangerous recalls in the past, and while they weren't as widespread or detrimental to the public, he knew there was a standard percentage of people who ignore government instructions and keep on as if everything is fine. There are more people who feel they can't stop for whatever reason in recalls that involve things such as car tires, staple foods like bread or rice, or furniture. He'd seen it before, and he knew this would be another one of those recalls.
Worst of all, because this was spinning out of control, he wouldn't be able to see the data until much later. He was a college professor, and while he was leading his department, he knew the federal government took precedent. He and his team might've discovered the link first and brought it to their attention, but he knew he'd be out of the loop now that they had what they needed.
Somehow he and Kate felt the same way, and both slumped in their seats as the long day continued.