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Two officials in the safety division of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded in their recent analysis, published on the FDA website Dec. 4, that people of all ages who have asthma should stop taking four very widely used asthma medications due to the drugs' potential to be life-threatening. Following are the four possible defective drugs:

• Advair, made by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline
• Serevent, also from Glaxo
• Symbicort, from AstraZeneca (introduced in 2007)
• Foradil, a Novartis product

Asthma Meds Taken by Millions

Millions of people in the U.S. take one or more of these medications to control their asthma. Although the two FDA officials cautioned that the drugs' use should be discontinued, their position is not the final word from the FDA. A committee of experts called together by the FDA is gathering this week to discuss the asthma medications and their risks, and the recent analysis was prepared for that panel.

The FDA's safety division acknowledged that the four drugs already have strict warnings (the "black box" warnings) stating that the drugs "may increase the risk of asthma-related death."

The advisory panel will be voting on whether the class of asthma drugs — long-acting beta-agonists, or LABAs — should continue to be marketed for both adults and children. The FDA's own analysts are divided on whether the drugs should be used by children.

Steroids and Beta Agonists

The two primary treatments for the swelling and spasms of the lungs in asthma attacks are steroids (which reduce swelling) and beta agonists (which treat spasms).

• Foradil and Serevent are beta agonists
• Advair contains both Serevent and a steroid
• Symbicort contains both Foradil and a steroid

Twenty asthma-related deaths were reported in the studies on which the recent analysis was based. All of the drugs' makers denied that there is a significant risk of death due to their medications' use.

(Source: New York Times)

If you have concerns about the adverse effects and risks of an asthma drug or other medication, contact us to speak with an experienced defective drug attorney today.