Z-Pak warnings include ‘sudden death’

Could this everyday drug be Big Pharma’s #1 killer?

The warnings started trickling out two years ago.

After 14 loooong years, a study was finally published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2012.

Researchers found out that the drug, azithromycin, cheerily nicknamed Z-Pak, increases your chance of a heart attack by 250 percent within the first days of using it.

Think about that…a common, everyday antibiotic could put you at 2.5 times the risk of a sudden heart attack!

And of course, the FDA limped right into inaction, doing what it does best…as little as possible.

Don’t ask, won’t tell

Never ones to ruffle the wrong feathers, they issued a “statement” saying the FDA was “aware” of the study. Then, buried a few paragraphs down, they mentioned that some heart warnings had already been added to the Z-Pak label.

So knowing what we do about how fast they react, I figure that’s proof they’d actually known about this danger the whole time.

By last spring, even the FDA figured it had to do something more. OK, it wasn’t a whole lot more.

This time it issued a “safety alert” that warned about the risk of “potentially fatal heart rhythms” from Z-Pak use. And not a moment too soon.

By now, over 50 million prescriptions a year for this drug were zipping off of Rx pads.

Since the risks with this drug appear to happen right away, if your dentist gave you a Z-Pak for that bad tooth months ago, it doesn’t look like you need to worry about it now.

But what about the next time?

Here’s what you need to know:

• The drug, also widely sold as a generic, can trigger a possibly fatal, irregular heart rhythm.
• If you already have heart problems, the risk is higher.
• The risk is also higher if you are older, have low levels of potassium, magnesium or a slow heart rate to begin with.
• If you are taking another drug for heart arrhythmia, that also ups your risk.
• Other brand names for this drug are Zithromax and Zmax

The best advice on this whole matter came from Dr. David Samadi, who is the chairman of urology at Lenox Hill Hospital.

He said to talk to your doctor and ask about other drugs such as amoxicillin — “especially” if you have heart disease.

And a really simple question Samadi suggests asking your doctor even before taking that antibiotic prescription off to the pharmacy is:

“Do I really need this?

Sources:
“Antibiotic linked with rare but deadly heart risk” Fox News Health, 5/17/2012, foxnews.com

“Azithromycin (Zithromax or Zmax): drug safety communication — risk of potentially fatal heart rhythms” 3/12/2013 fda.gov