Article on antibiotics

[anonymous]

Good Morning everyone

Read this....<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.turnto10.com/nationalnews/9452032/detail.html
">http://www.turnto10.com/nation...s/9452032/detail.html
</a>I am not sure how to make it a link so I guess you can copy and paste it if you want.

It about the antibiotic Ketek....which is used to treat Respitory tract infections, bronhitis, sinusitis and community -acquired pneumonia.

The label of a novel antibiotic will be updated to reflect reports of severe liver problems, including several deaths, associated with its use, the drug's maker and health officials said Thursday.

Has anyone ever been on this antibiotic?
Just thought it was an interesting article

 

[NoExcuses]

i have been on it. my mom has been on it.

the update on the package insert reflects verbiage that all other antibiotics have on their package inserts. this drug has been out in japan, europe and latin america for 5 years - and 22 million presriptions have been taken by patients.

with any drug that passes through your liver - including antibiotics - there is a risk of hepatatoxicity. Ketek's risk is no higher than any other antibiotic on the market.

the article doesn't state accurately why the children's clinical trial was halted. when the pediatric trial was started years back, the FDA required study endpoints to prove that the antibiotic in the trial have outcomes "equal to or no worse than" other antibiotics currently on the market. The FDA has suddenly changed their criteria - so the company has to re-asses the methods and outcomes of the trial so that they don't waste millions of dollars.

in conclusion - does anyone want to know where no on is developing new antiobitics for PA?

the above linked article is your answer - because people don't want ANY side effects from medications (and they blow side effects out of proportion), pharma companies don't want to take the risk.

Ketek is a novel antibiotic that treats bacteria in a way no other antibiotic has. And since it has a safety profile similar to other antibiotics, for some reason, it's gettinb bashed.

Lilly, Abbott, Pfizer, Merck, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Roche, Chiron, Genetech, GSK all look at what's happening with Ketek and say "forget this. I'm not investing millions in developing a new antibioti. It's not worth it."

And here we are...... what a shame society has turned out to be. It makes me sick. Literally.

 

[JazzysMom]

Isnt the bashing like any other med in general normal. I mean everything (herbal or man made) has side affects that will go along with the benefits. IN addition dont they have to list EVERY POSSIBLE THING that could be a side affect or at least the most common even if they all dont present themselves. Common sense (to me) would say that just about anything has the potential of bad affects!

 

[NoExcuses]

you are correct. but ketek's side effects are being exaggerated. the media is speaking about ketek and liver issues as if it's the only antibiotic on the market with these issues. i have never once read and article or seen a media blip that says "the PI has been altered to reflect liver events similar to every other antibiotic on the market".

 

[JazzysMom]

So is this tidbit not true? OR are they failing to mention that its possible with any other antibiotics? My understanding of what you say is that they are bringing up stuff about this med like NO OTHER med has EVER had such affects. Forgive me if I am a bit thick today.....clogged sinuses LOL!

 

[NoExcuses]

no problem. they are saying 'NEW WARNING FOR ANTIBIOTIC KETEK FOR LIVER TOXICITY' with no notice that other antibiotics have similar language in their package inserts.

if you were an average joe, would you want this drug? i wouldn't. unless i understood that all other antibiotics have similar liver issues....

it's just bad journalism.

 

[JazzysMom]

Thanks for clarifying this Amy. That does suck because those not familiar with meds as much as we are wouldnt know any different!

 

[NoExcuses]

my point exactly <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[blindhearted]

I've taken Ketek. I love ketek. it worked great. However, in my recent CF Clinic visit, my cf doctor told me not take ketek again. Saying the research showed that the antibiotic caused liver damage and was not properly reported (or taken serious) until 4 people died from the liver damage. He told me if I continued to take ketek against medical advice (since he has told me "no more") and if they began seeing that my liver fuctions start to drop and find out that I continued to take it (only when needed) then I'm gonna be in seriously bad situation and they will basically be highly upset. And due to CF, we put our bodies...including the liver....through enough and I dont need to add to that. my cf center doesnt prescribe it to any of their cf patients anymore due to the liver thing. I personally think the good out weighs the bad, but gotta do what the doctor says or it will bite me in the butt later.

 

[Allisa35]

I actually just got done reading this article on the net. I have never been on it and I have never heard of it. I saw that it is used for respiratory infections. Is this a common drug for CF patients to use when sick? I've never heard anything about it.

 

[NoExcuses]

It's not a good choice for CF patients because it doesn't kill PA.

But for people who aren't colonized with PA, but instead Strep, Staph, Moraxella, H. Flu, etc, it's a great drug.

Danyell, you should tell your doc to read the research more carefully. There is the same risk of liver failure with Augmentin (amox clav.) than with Ketek. It's been out in Europe for over 5 years and there are no issues.

 

[blindhearted]

whether ketek is made for PA or not, when I have an active PA flare up and it would respond quite well to ketek. I also have SA which wouldnt really respond to ketek. Everybody is different. I personally have never been a "by the books" patient when it comes to medicine.

Ketek may have been in Europe for 5 yrs but problems like this dont just show up because it is used in another country. I'm sure there are problems that happened in Europe and we just dont know about them. Regardless if you agree with my doctor's research or not, he is my CF doctor, in an accredited CF center, access to tons of resources, and he has the medical degree....so I'm gonna go by what he says. I dont think he would tell me not to take a drug that works well for me, since I am resistant to many antibiotics, without doing his research. He told me it is no longer prescribed to any (not just his) patients of this facility due to the warning.

 

[NoExcuses]

I would caution you strongly against blindly accepting what anybody tells you - whether it's your doctor, the newspaper, or me for that matter. Just because your doctor says it's unsafe, you owe it to yourself to do some research - because thought leaders in hepatoxicity as it pertains to antibiotics are stating loud and clear that Ketek is a safe antibiotic. Like you said - these people have tons of resources as well and have a medical degree. I'm not trying to talk you into using Ketek again - but instead asking you to understand that healthcare professionals don't alway do their due diligence. I see it all the time with physicians I work with - they make mistsakes and they are mis-informed OFTEN.

And in terms of Ketek being in Europe for 5 years - you are precisely correct. Liver injury doesn't just show up because it's use in another country. Europe has had no issues with Ketek - and of course we would know about them if they occured. The US FDA and the European equiavlent work side by side on any side effect issues. This isn't like working with North Korea where there are secrets.

In terms of Ketek working for your PA: Antibiotics and bacteria are as close to a black and white issue as you can get. Ketek works by inhibating protein synthasis of the bacteria. More specifically, by binding to domains 2 and 5 of the 23S rNA and and the 50S ribosomal subunit. Therefore, there is no possible way that Ketek can kill PA. It just doesn't happen.

Aminoglycosides interfere with bacterial protein synthesis by binding to 30S and 50S ribosomal subunits, which explains why Tobramycin can have efficacy against PA.

So my bottomline is this - I'm not saying your doc is an idiot. But what I am encouraging you to do is to question your doctor. He may be right. But at least you know you did your part of not excepting what he says blindly.

 

[ihatecf]

I used ketek since it was introduced to the market, and it did surprisngly well. It didnt lose its impact until this year ( actually all antibiotics lost impact with me). Concerning the pseudomonas thing, you never know when the infection is caused by it. So ketek can be prescribed for every mild exacerbation.

 

[NoExcuses]

Ketek is an extremely poor choice of an antiobitic for anyone colonized with PA.

Ketek will kill Strep and Staph - two bugs that are known for keeping PA at bay. So when Strep and Staph are killed, resources are freed up for PA to flourish.

If you don't have PA or MRSA, Ketek can be a good choice. But any microbiologist or infectious disease worth a darn will tell you that Ketek is a poor, poor choice for anyone colonized with PA.

Ketek, and its cousins in the macrolide class (ketek isn't a macrolide, it's a ketolide) can have anti-inflammatory effects, however. But this is not to be mistaken for bacterialcidal effects.

I've said it a million times and I'll make this a million in one - question your docs about why they are giving you certain meds. They're not right 100% of the time. Ever. None of them. Those who blindly trust their docs will have the worst clinical outcomes.....