It was late spring 2000 and my husband and I were living in Kissimmee Florida.  We were staying at a campground in the area while we were waiting for our apartment to be ready.  I began getting strange little red bites on me but thought nothing of it because of the time of year.  The bites started getting bad and all home remedies failed.  A local walk-in clinic turned me away because the health insurance from my new job wouldn't kick in for another 2 months, so I ended up going to the ER.  I was diagnosed with Scabies and was prescribed a topical cream.

Ten days later I was showing no signs of improvement.  I went back to the ER and mentioned that I suspected I might be pregnant.  I asked for a pregnancy test and the nurse said the doctor would decide to give me a test or not.  Again the diagnosis was Scabies.  We continued to ask about the pregnancy test, but did not get one.  The doctor quickly penned a prescription for Lindane and steroid pills.  I had never heard of either of them.  We asked if either could be dangerous to an unborn child and he told us they were safe.  To make absolutely sure I called the ER again 2 days later.  Another doctor told me there was no chance for harm to an unborn child from these prescriptions.

I applied the Lindane cream twice a day and took the pills as prescribed.  A few days later I started feeling sick.  I was dizzy and vomiting, and felt displaced.  I stopped taking the pills and using the cream and started feeling better.  We finally moved into our apartment and the bites that plagued me seemed to go away on their own.  I still suspected I was pregnant so I bought a home test.  Sure enough I was pregnant.

In June I began having severe cramps and began spotting.  We rushed to the ER and after 3 hours of tests our worst nightmares were realized.  Our unborn child was dead at 12 weeks.  We were devastated.  We named our lost child Dakota.

After doing some of our own research we learned how deadly Lindane could be!  We believe that Lindane attacked his developing nervous system and caused his death.

Now we can only hope through our story we can help alert others and prevent another child's death.

- Erica