Summary

Original source:
http://www.wkyc.com/health/health_fullstory.asp?id=37878

Details

• Three popular asthma drugs used by millions of patients could, in some cases, be making them sicker.
• Wednesday, the F.D.A. asked a panel of lung experts if Serevent, Advair and Foradil should remain on the market.
• The concern about these drugs began two years ago when a clinical trial was called off early due to a small but significant number of flare-ups and deaths.
• Patricia Younger uses the drug Advair to prevent asthma attacks.
• "It helps a lot because it opens up your air passages and it maintains you most of the day," Younger says.
• Two years ago, a clinical trial of salmeterol was stopped early because some patients' asthma got worse and 13 out of 13,000 died.
• Frequent F.D.A. critic Sidney Wolfe with the Public Citizen's Health Research Group says the drugs shouldn't be used.
• "Given that the purpose of treating asthma is to prevent people from dying, if a drug increases the death rate, it really shouldn't be used," Wolfe says.
• "We firmly believe that Salmeterol remains a valuable medication that has improved the level of care for patients with asthma and COPD," Dr. Katharine Knobil with Glaxo Smith Kline says.
• Serevent and Advair already have black box warnings on the labels but another asthma drug, Foradil, does not.
• A separate trial found asthma flare-ups in patients whose used twice the recommended dose.
• The F.D.A. is asking a panel of experts if warnings should be added, changed or if the drugs should be pulled altogether.
• "I think there are lots of questions yet to be answered and research that needs to be done," Chris Ward with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America says.
• The F.D.A.'s expert panel is recommending these drugs stay on the market, but they want to add a warning to the drug Foradil.

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