Worst Pills, Best Pills

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norfloxacin (CHIBROXIN, NOROXIN)


E-ALERTS

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DISEASE AND DRUG FAMILY INFORMATION

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Antibiotics
Antibiotics (drugs used to treat bacterial infections) are overwhelmingly misprescribed in the United States. Despite congressional hearings and numerous academic studies on this issue, it has become the general consensus that 40 to 60% of all antibiotics in this country are misprescribed. New studies continue to confirm the fact that a large proportion of antibiotic prescribing for both children and adults continues to be inappropriate.
Fluoroquinolones
One of the biggest-selling and most overprescribed classes of drugs in the United States is the family called fluoroquinolones. One clue that a drug your doctor wants to give you is in this class is the fact that the generic names of all such drugs approved in the United States include the sequence floxacin. These drugs have been alternatives for individuals allergic to, or with infections resistant to, other antibiotics. Some fluoroquinolones are commonly misprescribed for colds, sore throats, bladder infections, or community-acquired (as opposed to hospital-acquired) pneumonia.

DRUG AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENT PROFILES

A comprehensive review of the safety and effectiveness of this drug. If the drug is not a Do Not Use product, information on adverse effects, drug interactions and how to use the medication are included.
Search results below include Drug and Dietary Supplement Profiles where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion.


WORST PILLS, BEST PILLS NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion.

Fluoroquinolones Linked to Life-Threatening Blood Vessel Complications
April 2016
In this article, we discuss results of new research linking the widely overused fluoroquinolone antibiotics to an increased risk of life-threatening damage to the body’s largest blood vessel, the aorta.
Further Evidence Confirms Danger Of Blood Pressure Drugs Used Together
April 2015
Patients should never take more than one of the following drugs used to treat high blood pressure at the same time: an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), and aliskiren. Learn why doing so could have serious, even fatal consequences.
Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Associated With Increased Risk of Retinal Detachment
July 2012
Find out the most common symptoms of the vision-threatening condition retinal detachment and how, although rarely, it can be caused by commonly used antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) and levofloxacin (LEVAQUIN). We also discuss evidence that these antibiotics are overused.
Antacid Drug Interactions
October 2009
Antacids can interact with a number of medications, either increasing or decreasing drug effect.
Drug-induced Cognitive Impairment: Part 2: Delirium and Dementia
April 2009
This second article about drug-induced dementia or delirium lists and discusses an additional 79 drugs that can cause these reversible kinds of mental deterioration. The two articles collectively review 136 drugs that can cause these serious side effects, especially in older people.
FDA Must Warn Patients Taking Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics of Possible Tendon Ruptures
October 2008
After a petition and lawsuit by Public Citizen's Health Research Group, the FDA announced in July that it will require a “black box” warning concerning tendon rupture and tendinitis caused by fluoroquinolone antibiotics, as well as an FDA-approved medication guide to be dispensed when prescriptions are filled. Although this accomplishes two of the three steps Public Citizen has urged the agency to take for nearly two years, we are troubled that the FDA is not doing everything within its power to prevent more people from needlessly suffering disabling tendon ruptures. Nothing could be simpler and more effective than a letter to doctors in addition to what the FDA has already agreed to do.
Public Citizen Urges FDA to Warn Consumers About Risk of Tendon Rupture Associated With Certain Antibiotics
November 2006
You should stop taking fluoroquinolones(listed in the article) and immediately contact your physician if you experience pain in any tendon while taking one of these antibiotics so you can be switched to another antibiotic.
Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Implicated in Life-Threatening Diarrhea
February 2006
Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) is quite common and its incidence varies from 5% to 20% of patients depending on which antibiotic they are taking. The article lists some of the drugs most associated with this potentially life-threatening adverse reaction.
Drug Induced Peripheral Neuropathy From The Fluroquinolone Antibiotics
December 2004
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now requires that the professional product labeling, or package inserts, for all fluroquinolone antibiotics must warn about the possibility of peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage). A list of the fluroquinolone antibiotics currently available in the U.S. appears at the end of this article.
Drug Interaction Reminder: Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics and the Anticoagulant (Blood Thinner) Warfarin (COUMADIN)
September 2004
You should consider that all fluoroquinolone antibiotics have the potential to interact with warfarin and your physician should be ordering blood tests to monitor the status of your blood clotting if one of these antibiotics is needed and you are using warfarin. This is the safest thing to do.
Drug-Induced Taste Disorders
September 2003
DO NOT stop taking any of the drugs listed in the table without first consulting your physician. You should report any alteration in your sense of taste to your physician if you are taking a drug.
Inappropriate Prescribing Of Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics, Ciprofloxacin (CIPRO), Gatifloxacin (TEQUIN), And Others
July 2003
In this study, the researchers evaluated 100 consecutive patients who went to the emergency room and received a prescription for a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. Of the 100 patients, 81 (81%) received a fluoroquinolone antibiotic for an inappropriate use. In 43 (53%) of these patients, a fluoroquinolone was found inappropriate because another antibiotic was considered first-line treatment, and in 27 (33%) patients there was no evidence of an infection and therefore no indication for the use of any antibiotic.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC CITIZEN

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FDA Must Do More to Warn Patients Taking Flouroquinolone Antibiotics of Possible Tendon Ruptures
Statement of Sidney Wolfe, M.D., Director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen
Antibiotic Leads to Tendon Ruptures; FDA Ignores Risks
Despite long-standing evidence that fluoroquinolone antibiotics can cause tendon ruptures, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has failed to increase its warnings to patients and physicians about the dangers of the medicines, Public Citizen told a federal court Thursday.
Public Citizen Petitions the FDA to Include a Black Box Warning on Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics (HRG Publication #1781)
Public Citizen, representing more than 100,000 consumers nationwide, hereby petitions the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act 21 U.S.C. Section 355(e)(3), and 21 C.F.R. 10.30, to immediately add a black box warning regarding the risks of tendinopathy and tendon rupture to the product labels of all fluoroquinolone antibiotics presently on the market in the United States.
Petition to Require a Warning on All Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics (HRG Publication #1399)
Based on more than 130 reports of tendon inflammation (many involving rupture), most frequently involving the Achilles tendon, in persons using the widely-prescribed class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones, Public Citizen, representing consumers nationwide, hereby petitions the F.D.A. to add a warning about this serous problem to the label of all fluoroquinolone antibiotics marketed in the United States. These include: