30-year-old woman died following treatment is also available in Bermuda.

The cancer drug, Cytoxan, received national attention last month when the woman became the third to die after taking the drug.

Two other victims, a 39-year-old Boston Globe newspaper health columnist and a 52-year-old woman died of massive heart damage after they were both mistakenly prescribed doses four times more than they needed.

A California University researcher has also pointed to the increased incidence of leukaemia among patients on the drug in a Boston Globe article last month.

But yesterday Acting Chief Medical Officer Mrs. Brenda Davidson moved to calm fears on the drug's safety.

The drug, which suppresses the growth of fast-growing cancer cells, had been on the market as long as she could remember, she said.

"It is commonly used in the treatment of cancer ... It is a very useful and very good drug. It works very effectively.'' But correct dosage was crucial, she said. An overdose would cause the destruction of white blood cells.

"Too much would kill the patient,'' she warned. "It is a question of being very aware of observing the correct dosage.'' To ensure cancer patients are treated correctly, a committee sits weekly to discuss the appropriate treatment for each individual cancer case, whether it be chemotherapy, surgery or radiology.

"A line of treatment is laid out for each individual case,'' Dr. Davidson said. "There is very strict protocol in place. Each patient is assessed as an individual.'' Head pharmacist at Somerset Pharmacy, Mr. Charles Moore, claimed the drug had been used to treat cancer for at least 30 years.

"It is a safe drug,'' he said. "It has saved many more people than it has killed.'' But he agreed that, as with most cancer-fighting drugs, the dose calculation was critical.

"If you swallowed a bottle of aspirin you would likely end up dead also,'' he said.

"I feel it is a widely used, very safe drug,'' he said. "What happened in the States was a case of miscalculation of dosage.'' Leukaemia, he admitted, was a risk because after a period of time the drug affected the growth of white blood cells .

"The drug is administered until normal cells are being affected,'' Mr. Moore explained. "But sometimes it is difficult to tell because everything grows at different rates.'' But, he added, every drug has side affects.

Dr. Marion Watlington who specialises in oncology -- the study of tumours, said Cytoxan is used to cure many types of cancer.

The dangers of the drug, she said, should be measured against the life-threatening nature of the illness.

"It has been around for a long time and is one of hundreds of cancer drugs.

We have not run into any real problem with it,'' she said.

Over the years, hundreds of tests had been carried out on the drug which made it "relatively safe''.

And so far, she had never come across a case of mistaken dosage in Bermuda.