Public Citizen Calls for Black Box Warning on Certain Antibiotics
Nov. 5, 2015
Public Citizen Calls for Black Box Warning on Certain Antibiotics
Public Citizen is calling for the addition of black box warnings on fluoroquinolone antibiotics (Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox) because of their association with a higher risk of life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, founder and senior adviser of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, testified today about the dangers of fluoroquinolones before a joint meeting of the Antimicrobial Drugs and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committees of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
He also said that fluoroquinolone antibiotics are being overprescribed and warnings buried in the label are not likely to be noticed or heeded. An emergency room study showed that 81 percent of the patients who were prescribed fluoroquinolones in the emergency room were prescribed them unnecessarily.
###