Faculty Bibliography

Adverse reactions to drugs and mistakes in prescribing them commonly cause illness and sometimes death among hospital patients in this country, three new studies have shown. One problem is an allergic reaction that cannot be predicted or prevented -- which can occur the first time an individual takes a drug. Another reaction can occur if a patient has a known drug allergy that doctors, nurses and pharmacists fail to note before the medication is administered. A reaction can also occur when a patient is given a combination of drugs, even when each drug presents no problems individually. The rates of adverse drug events varied widely in earlier studies, in part because of the way hospitals and those doing studies identify the rates. One study found that about 30 percent of hospital patients had adverse drug events and that 3 percent to 28 percent of hospital admissions were related to such events

The death of former Sen Paul E. Tsongas of Massachusetts on Jan 18, 1997 from complications of treatment for cancer recalls how important it is for candidates for elected office to make full disclosure of their medical information

Since 1996, the widespread use of combinations of new and older drugs has changed the face of AIDS, promising to transform a fatal infection to a manageable chronic disease. But for an unknown number of AIDS victims, the drugs are failing

Charles B. Huggins, who won a Nobel Prize for discoveries that helped open the era of drug therapy for cancer and provide underpinnings of the modern treatment of prostate and breast cancer, died on Jan 12, 1997 at the age of 95

The FDA has issued several warnings about the dangers of Seldane, which are well known, over the last few years, but has not acted to take the drug off the market. Monday the agency said that it was now proposing to withdraw approval of Seldane, Seldane D and generic versions of the drugs because several newer and safer antihistamines were available

The FDA on Jan 13, 1997 proposed to ban Seldane, a widely prescribed antihistamine, because of rare but potentially deadly side effects. The agency said that Seldane can cause fatal heart-rhythm abnormalities, particularly when it is taken with other drugs. The FDA proposed to withdraw approval of Seldane, Seldane D and generic versions of the drugs because several newer antihistamines were available and they were considered safer

The Food and Drug Administration proposed yesterday to ban Seldane, a widely prescribed antihistamine, because of rare but potentially deadly side effects. Seldane can cause fatal heart-rhythm abnormalities, particularly when it is taken with other drugs, the federal agency said. The FDA has issued several warnings about the dangers of Seldane, which are well known, over the last few years, but has not acted to take the drug off the market. Yesterday the agency said it was proposing to withdraw approval of Seldane, Seldane-D and generic versions of the drugs because several newer and safer antihistamines were available. The agency advised users of Seldane to consult doctors about switching to alternative antihistamines. Among them are Nasalcrom, or cromylin, which was approved for over-the-counter use this month, and the prescription drugs Allegra, Claritin and Hismanal. The agency also suggested intranasal steroids like Beconase, Flonase, Nasacort and Vancenase

The FDA on Jan 2, 1997 proposed a ban on the use of any tissue from a wide variety of animals in feed to prevent the spread of mad cow disease if it ever occurred in the US