Drug Warning

By Lea Tyrrell

Like many people, I've taken both the antibiotics Cipro and Levaquin when I've been prescribed them over the years.  So it was a little unsettling to hear the federal government had decided to impose its strongest safety warning on this class of medications - the "black box" warning.  Cipro is one of the drugs stockpiled by the federal government in case of a bio-terrorist attack, and is effective against anthrax.  The Food and Drug Administration says there is evidence that these potent antibacterials, known as fluoroquinolones, may lead to tendon ruptures.

Scientists say this link of what's commonly thought of as a sports injury to the use of an antibiotic is highly unusual, and they admit they don't fully understand why it happens.  The FDA says the types of tendon ruptures reported suggest that fluoroquinolones may be toxic to some people.

Typically, most people felt some pain or inflammation for a week or two before they were injured, but some of the ruptures came without warning.  Something just "snapped" or "popped" soon after the patient started treatment with one of the drugs.  The most common rupture involved the Achilles tendon, but people also snapped tendons in the rotator cuff, hand, bicep, and the thumb. 

FDA officials say most of the serious injuries appear to be preventable if, at the first sign of pain or inflammation you stop taking the drug, and your doctor switches you to another antibiotic.  The agency says the prescribing literature for this class of drugs already carries clear warnings about the risk of tendon rupture, but I don't remember any doctor mentioning that to me when they prescribed them.  So if you'd like to find out more information about this, and see what other medications are on the list, go to the Food and Drug Administration's website.