FDA Starts Safety Review of Autoimmune Disorder Drugs

[Mazen]

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=90019

WEDNESDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) — U.S. health officials have started a safety review of a class of drugs known as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers, which are widely prescribed to treat autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease.

The announcement did not come as a surprise, as experts have long debated the risk-benefit profile of the drugs without coming to any consensus.

Among the chief concerns being investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are whether the drugs are associated with the development of cancer, especially lymphoma, in children and young adults being treated for rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn's disease. The agency is investigating about 30 reports of cancer in this younger age group submitted between 1998, after the approval of the first TNF blocker, through April of this year. TNF blockers have also been linked to an increased risk of infection.

 

[Kev]

Well, wish I'd read this first. On another post, someone raised a question to my comment about TNF blockers. They wanted to know what's wrong with TNF blockers. Guess this sort of answers that.. better than my weak reply.

 

[BWS1982]

In one of Dad_01's threads I put a copy of a report my pharmacist of a mom emailed me from the FDA, and it's quite possibly the same as this one