Irritable Bowel Drug Withdrawn
Filed in archive Digestive Health by Florence Cardinal on April 03, 2007

The latest to go, as reported in the New York Times, is Zelnorm (tegasarod):
The maker of Zelnorm, a medicine that treats constipation-related irritable bowel syndrome, stopped selling the drug Friday after federal drug officials concluded that it might cause heart attacks and strokes.
eDrugs.com describes the drug this way:
Tegaserod is used to treat severe, chronic, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in women who have constipation as their main bowel problem (constipation-predominant). It is also used to treat chronic idiopathicconstipation in patients less than 65 years of age.
But there were problems with this drug even before the latest news. This from Web MD:
The FDA says Zelnorm has been associated with serious cases of diarrhea as well as instances of ischemic colitis -- a medical condition where blood flow is reduced to the intestines.
Permalink: Irritable Bowel Drug Withdrawn
Tags:
constipation irritable bowel syndrome Zelnorm tegasarod heart attack strokes health irritable+bowel
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