Inquiry uncaps a multitude of pills
By: John Upton
March 6, 2009
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| A health risk? Bay pilot John Cota has been known to suffer from depression, alcoholism, sleep apnea, abdominal pain, back pain and headaches, among other afflictions. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) |
SAN FRANCISCO — John Cota had filled prescriptions for more than 1,000 tablets of powerful drugs, such as Vicodin and Valium, in the two months before he piloted the Cosco Busan into a Bay Bridge tower, an investigation report shows.
The pills were obtained from a number of different sources — a local pharmacist, a grocery story pharmacist and through the mail — in the 60 days leading up to the crash, according to a National Transportation Safety Board review of the accident, due to be published in the coming weeks.
After the Nov. 7, 2007 accident, which spilled 53,500 gallons of fuel into San Francisco Bay in the largest spill in decades, the U.S. Coast Guard reviewed medical forms that had previously been submitted by Cota and canceled his license because of health concerns, NTSB medical officer Mitchell Garber told an investigation hearing.
Cota had suffered, at the time of the accident or prior to the crash, from depression, alcoholism, sleep apnea, abdominal pain, back pain, headaches, glaucoma, chronic esophagitis and acute pancreatitis, he had passed 10 kidney stones, and he was being prepared for dental implants, NTSB documents show.
Investigators said after the accident they had learned Cota used numerous painkillers and other drugs, but the upcoming report, summarized in documents recently made public, provides a comprehensive account of the drugs the pilot obtained in the lead-up to the crash.
In the 60 days before the crash, Cota obtained 10 types of prescription drugs, including 510 tablets of addictive and pain-killing compounds typically sold as Vicodin, Darvon and Valium, NTSB documents show. About one-quarter of those pills were obtained from two pharmacies following oral surgery on Nov. 2, five days before the accident.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that those drugs can be habit-forming, and that they may impair the mental and physical abilities required to drive a car or operate machinery.
Cota is facing federal misdemeanor charges related to environmental crimes and felony charges for allegedly withholding some medical details when he renewed his bar pilot’s license. A judge is scheduled today to consider a request by prosecutors to delay the trial from April until the fall.
It’s impossible to know whether Cota was under the influence of the drugs at the time of the accident, because a urine sample was destroyed after it tested negative for banned substances, such as marijuana and alcohol, according to Garber. Morphine and codeine would have been detected, but other pharmaceuticals wouldn’t have shown up, he said.
Cota’s attorney, Jeffrey Bornstein, said his client admits only to taking Provigil, Alphagan and Synthroid before the accident. Those drugs treat sleepiness, glaucoma and thyroid problems.
“There is nothing in the evidentiary record to support him being under the influence of any drug,” Bornstein said.
He said that Cota’s navigation decisions as the ship struck the bridge have been commended by investigators.
“There’s no evidence of him taking any drug, period, except the three he admits to taking.”
Drugstore cowboy
Drugs obtained by Petaluma pilot John Cota in the 60 days before the Nov. 7, 2007 Cosco Busan crash:
- 200 tablets of hydrocodone and acetaminophen, a painkiller, sold as Vicodin
- 190 tablets of propoxyphene, a painkiller, sold as Darvon
- 120 tablets of diazepam, a painkiller, sold as Valium
- 50 tablets of pentazocine and naloxone, a painkiller, sold as Talwin
- 27 tablets of sumatriptan, which treat migraine headaches, sold as Imitrex
- 180 tablets of lorazepam, which treat anxiety, sold as Ativan
- 90 tablets of modafinil, which improves wakefulness in patients with sleep disorders, sold as Provigil
- 90 tablets of sertraline, an antidepressant, sold as Zoloft
- 100 tablets of diphenoxylate and atropine, which treat gastrointestinal problems, sold under many names
- 50 tablets of prochlorperazine, which treat nausea, vomiting, schizophrenia and anxiety, sold as Compazine
Sources: National Transportation Safety Board, drugs.com
