Nora, that's appalliing. Whatever peace and comfort possible to the families and loved ones of those who died. I hope your friend's daughter is safe somewhere.
Connie, I'm so very sorry. Strength and comfort to your family and to you.
I had an interesting experience last night. I take a niacin supplement at the direction of my doctor. I've had a reaction to ordinary niacin--feels like a hot flash and then prickly heat all over, lasts about 10-20 minutes. I used a gel-capsuled time release formula and skipped that reaction, but the capsules are exorbitantly expensive, so I recently switched to gel-coated time-release tabs, and have had no problem.
Last night, fully 14 hours after I'd taken my daily niacin dose, I ate an apple, had a sudden blood sugar change and got too warm. As I was peeling layers, it became a hot flash, and then the hottest flash I have ever had, followed by feeling like I'd fallen in a thicket of nettles. My skin turned bright pink, and I actually thought I was about to break out in hives. The prickly sensation was so intense I couldn't put my arms down. I jumped into a cool shower and had some ice water in an effort to ameliorate the symptoms, while I tried to puzzle out what I could have eaten or touched to cause such a reaction. The feeling intensified over about a 30 minute period, then waned over the next half-hour.
I had neither done nor eaten anything out of the ordinary. I came to the conclusion that one or more of the niacin geltabs had probably held its coating integrity well past the usual time-release, and had dissolved into my system all at once.
There are no remaining symptoms, I didn't ever develop hives, and waking this morning I felt totally normal. I may be switching brands, though.