The F.D.A. Warned an Asthma Drug Could Induce Despair. Many Were Never Told.
www.nytimes.com
Singulair, now a generic, is still used by millions of people in the United States even after thousands of patients and dozens of studies have described harm.

If you’re on this, talk to your doctor.

  • BoisZoi@lemmy.mlEnglish
    5·
    5 months ago

    I found this out last month from my stepmother who is a pharmacist… I stopped it a few months prior to learning this, but knowing this now, I’ll use an alternative like Cetirizine/Zyrtec.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    2·
    5 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The F.D.A.’s handling of Singulair illustrates systemic gaps in the agency’s approach to addressing troubling side effects from medicines approved long ago — and to warning the public and doctors when serious issues arise.

    With concerns lingering, researchers, including some at the F.D.A., have returned to basic animal studies to examine possible effects of montelukast in the brain, a quest that could take a decade to complete.

    Settling the question of how common the problems are remains unlikely, said Dr. Daniel Benjamin, a Duke University researcher who helps distribute the scarce federal funds allocated to studying older pediatric drugs.

    One Swedish study found that mice taking the drug for two weeks had impaired cell growth in the hippocampus, a brain region critical for memory and learning.

    A 2022 study in Portugal found altered levels of dopamine and serotonin in rats, as well as lowered defenses against stress, said Gonçalo Justino, a biochemistry researcher at the University of Lisbon.

    Dr. Marc Flajolet, a Rockefeller University neuroscientist, said evidence suggesting that the drug could affect developing brains meant that “it will be probably safer at this point not to use that in kids until we know more.”

    The original article contains 3,327 words, the summary contains 195 words. Saved 94%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • silence7OP
      11·
      5 months ago

      The FDA required their most serious warning, the black box warning, on the drug several years back. The problem is that peoples’ doctors haven’t talked with them about the psychiatric side effects, so they end up suffering or killing themselves.

      For most people who take it, the drug is incredible at treating asthma and doesn’t have any of these side effects.

      For the few who do have one of the side effects, it’s something they have to stop taking.