Worst Pills, Best Pills

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gemifloxacin (FACTIVE)


E-ALERTS

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DISEASE AND DRUG FAMILY INFORMATION

Search results below include Disease and Drug Family Information where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion.

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.

gemifloxacin (FACTIVE)
  • We list this drug as a Do Not Use drug because it causes severe rashes and may cause irregular heartbeat and liver damage.

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.

Important Drug Interactions for the Antidepressant Fluoxetine (PROZAC, SYMBYAX)
February 2022
Patients taking the commonly prescribed antidepressant fluoxetine should be aware that it has clinically important and potentially dangerous interactions with many other prescription and over-the-counter medications.
Important Drug Interactions for the Abnormal Heart Rhythm Drug Amiodarone
July 2021
Patients taking the commonly prescribed abnormal heart rhythm drug amiodarone should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
Important Drug Interactions for the Antibiotic Erythromycin
June 2021
Patients taking the commonly prescribed antibiotic erythromycin should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
Important Drug Interactions for the Antibiotic Azithromycin
July 2020
Patients taking the commonly prescribed antibiotic azithromycin (ZITHROMAX) should be aware that it has clinically important dangerous interactions with many other prescription medications.
Important Drug Interactions for the Antibiotic Clarithromycin
April 2020
Patients taking the commonly prescribed antibiotic clarithromycin (BIAXIN XL) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Can Increase the Risk of Aortic Rupture, FDA Warns
July 2019
Read about the growing body of evidence showing that the commonly prescribed fluoroquinolone antibiotics increase the risk of potentially fatal ruptures or tears of the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body.
New Study Links Fluoroquinolones to Life-Threatening Blood Vessel Complication
September 2018
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.
FDA Requires Stronger Warnings for Commonly Used Antibiotics
February 2017
One of the biggest-selling but most overprescribed classes of antibiotics in the U.S. is the family called fluoroquinolones. Learn why the FDA required the addition of new black-box warnings to the labels of these antibiotics that describe risks of several disabling and potentially permanent side effects.
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.
Often-Misused Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Pose Serious Risks
October 2015
Fluoroquinolones are the biggest-selling and most overprescribed classes of antibiotics in the U.S. Learn why Public Citizen's Health Research Group designates two of the five available fluoroquinolones as Do Not Use and why the other three should be used only in limited circumstances.
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.
Tizanidine: Watch Out for Drugs Interacting With This Muscle Relaxant
October 2008
Tizanidine (ZANAFLEX) is a muscle relaxant for which more than 3.8 million prescriptions were filled in the U.S. last year. The article lists more than 64 drugs with which it can have dangerous interactions resulting in excess sedation, difficulty breathing or dangerously low blood pressure that can result in falling.
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.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC CITIZEN

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Testimony Before the FDA’s Antimicrobial Drugs and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committees Regarding Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics (HRG Publication #2282)
Public Citizen is concerned about the significant overprescribing of fluoroquinolones. We recommend that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) require the addition of black-box warnings to the labels of all such antibiotics about the risk of life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms.
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.