The FDA is warning that the widely-used antihypertensive agent olmesartan (marketed as Benicar, Benicar HCT, Azor, Tribenzor, and generics) may cause severe diarrhea. According to an FDA safety announcement, olmesartan “can cause intestinal problems known as sprue-like enteropathy. Symptoms of sprue-like enteropathy include severe, chronic diarrhea with substantial weight loss.” The warning is being added to…
FDA Warns That Popular Blood Pressure Drug Can Cause Severe Diarrhea
July 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Two FDA Officials Quarrel Over Safety Of Angiotensin Receptor Blockers
May 31, 2013 by 1 Comment
Two FDA officials are quarreling in public about their different views about the safety of angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), according to a story by Thomas Burton in Friday’s Wall Street Journal. One official, Thomas Marciniak, contends that ARBs may increase the risk of cancer. Marciniak has been a vocal critic of FDA’s efforts to assess drug safety. In…
European Medicines Agency Starts Review of Combined Use Of Drugs That Block The Renin-Angiotensin System
May 20, 2013 by 1 Comment
The European Medicines Agency said last week that it was initiating a review of the combined use of agents that block the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). The three classes of RAS-blocking drugs (ACE inhibitors, ARBs, and direct renin inhibitors) are used to treat hypertension and congestive heart failure. The EMA said that the review was being performed to…
Study Warns Against Dual Blockade of Renin-Angiotensin System In Heart Failure And Hypertension
January 28, 2013 by 1 Comment
The enormous success of ACE inhibitors in hypertension and heart failure spurred hope that adding a second drug to block the renin-angiotensin system would yield improved outcomes. Although definitive evidence supporting dual blockade of the renin-angiotensin system has never been found, more than 200,000 patients in the US currently receive this therapy. Now a large…
Acute Kidney Injury Associated With Dual Antihypertensive Therapy And NSAIDs
January 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Adding a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to dual antihypertensive therapy (a diuretic plus either an ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker) is associated with an increase in risk for kidney injury, according to a large new retrospective study published in BMJ. Click here to read the complete story on Forbes. …
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