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gatifloxacin (TEQUIN)

• gatifloxacin (TEQUIN); moxifloxacin (AVELOX); sparfloxacin (ZAGAM)
  We list theses drugs as Do Not Use drugs because they are no more effective than similar drugs and cause irregular heartbeat.

• Antibiotics [hide all summaries]
  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 [hide all summaries]
  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-induced Cognitive Impairment: Part 2: Delirium and Dementia [hide all summaries]
  (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 [hide all summaries]
  (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.
• FDA Issues New Warnings For Muscle Spasm Drug Tizanidine (ZANAFLEX) [hide all summaries]
  (August 2007)
  The muscle spasm drug tizanidine (ZANAFLEX) combined with certain other drugs could cause serious complications such as drowsiness and can dramatically lower blood pressure, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The article lists 20 drugs to avoid if you are using Zanaflex so that you avoid these potentially dangerous interactions.
• Public Citizen Urges FDA to Warn Consumers About Risk of Tendon Rupture Associated With Certain Antibiotics [hide all summaries]
  (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 [hide all summaries]
  (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.
• Serious Blood Sugar Reactions With the Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic Gatifloxacin (TEQUIN) [hide all summaries]
  (February 2006)
  On Dec. 21, 2005, the Canadian equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada, warned the public and healthcare professionals of serious cases of both low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) with the use of the fluoroquinolone antibiotic gatifloxacin (TEQUIN).
• Drug Induced Peripheral Neuropathy From The Fluroquinolone Antibiotics [hide all summaries]
  (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) [hide all summaries]
  (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 [hide all summaries]
  (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 [hide all summaries]
  (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.
• Stronger Warnings for the Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic Gatifloxacin (TEQUIN) [hide all summaries]
  (May 2003)
  Stronger warnings have been added to the professional product label, or “package insert,” for the fluoroquinolone antibiotic gatifloxacin (TEQUIN) about possible heart rhythm disturbances and problems with blood sugar control. This drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2001 and its marketing brought to nine the number of fluoroquinolone antibiotics on the market.
• Do Not Use! The Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic Gatifloxacin (TEQUIN) [hide all summaries]
  (July 2002)
  The approval of gatifloxacin(TEQUIN) in October 2001 brought to nine the number of fluoroquinolone antibiotics on the market, and this drug joins sparfloxacin (ZAGAM) and moxifloxacin (AVELOX) as fluoroquinolones that can cause a dangerous abnormality in the heart’s electrical conduction known as QT prolongation that can lead to fatal heart rhythm disturbances such as torsade de pointes.

• FDA Must Do More to Warn Patients Taking Flouroquinolone Antibiotics of Possible Tendon Ruptures [hide all summaries]
  Statement of Sidney Wolfe, M.D., Director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen
• Antibiotic Leads to Tendon Ruptures; FDA Ignores Risks [hide all summaries]
  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) [hide all summaries]
  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 the FDA to Immediately Ban the Antibiotic Gatifloxacin (Tequin) (HRG Publication #1768) [hide all summaries]
  Petition to the FDA to Immediately Ban the Antibiotic Gatifloxacin (Tequin) (HRG Publication #1768)

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