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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising against prescribing fluoroquinolones, a group of antibiotics that includes drugs such as Cipro and Levaquin, to treat three common illnesses —bronchitis, sinus infections, and urinary tract infections. The agency issued the new recommendations after a safety review revealed that fluoroquinolones can cause disabling and potentially permanent side effects that affect the tendons, muscles, joints, nerves, and central nervous system. “I am living proof that the risks in using a fluorquinolone to treat a routine infection far outweighs the benefits,” says Rachel Brummert, 45, of Charlotte, North Carolina. Last November, Brummert addressed a panel of experts convened by the FDA and described the ever-worsening series of health problems, including 10 ruptured tendons and progressive nerve damage, she’s suffered as side effects of taking Levaquin for a suspected sinus infection in 2006. Brummert, the executive director of the Quinolone Vigilance Foundation, was one of more than 30 people who spoke during the open public hearing portion of the meeting about how the drugs had an impact on their lives. The FDA convened the expert advisory panel to review evidence on the safety of using fluoroquinolones to treat common infections. In the end, the 21-member panel voted overwhelmingly that, in most cases, the benefit of fluoroquinolones to treat bronchitis, sinus infections, and urinary tract infections was outweighed by rare, but serious harms, including irregular heartbeats, depression, nerve damage, ruptured tendons, and seizures. |
