Sunday, May 18, 2008

Canada lags on labelling drugs to warn of C. difficile

From the Hamilton Spectator:
Health Canada has not followed the lead of the U.S. by updating its warnings on certain drugs that increase the risk of contracting C. difficile.

This despite the critical connection between C. difficile and antibiotics.

American drug regulators updated a number of warnings as a result of reports from some Canadian and U.S. cities that specific strains of C. difficile were causing more severe disease than had been seen previously, said a spokesperson with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA started seeing post-marketing reports of C. difficile-associated diarrhea with deaths or other serious consequences, such as colectomy, the surgical removal of part of the colon.

The use of antibiotics is a major issue with C. diff because patients who have been treated with specific antibiotics are at greatest risk of contracting the disease. ...more

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