Seasonale (Barr), the first "extended-cycle" oral contraceptive, is now available in the US for pregnancy prevention. Active tablets containing 30 ╡g of ethinyl estradiol and 0.15 mg of levonorgestrel are taken for 84 consecutive days, followed by 7 days of inactive tablets, allowing for withdrawal bleeding only four times a year. Other combination oral contraceptives are dispensed as 21 days of active tablets and 7 days of placebo or no tablets, resulting in 13 withdrawal bleeding episodes each year.

The results of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of calcium and vitamin D supplements in more than 36,000 postmenopausal women, conducted as part of the Women’s Health Initiative (RD Jackson et al. N Engl J Med 2006; 354:669), have been misinterpreted by some patients to mean that they should stop taking such supplements.At the time of recruitment, the participants in this study had an average daily calcium intake of 1100-1200 mg. They were randomized to take either 1000 mg of calcium carbonate plus 400 IU of vitamin D3 or a placebo for an average of 7 years. Both groups were permitted...

Soon after The Medical Letter first reviewed use of natalizumab (Tysabri – Biogen Idec and Elan) for treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2005; 47:13), the drug was withdrawn from the market. The unpublished clinical trials that led to its approval by the FDA have since been published, and now the drug has been returned to the market with prescribing restrictions.Natalizumab decreases the number of relapses and new brain lesions in patients with MS. It was withdrawn because progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) occurred in 3 (of about 3000)...

The FDA recently advised health care professionals and consumers not to use a number of dietary supplements found to contain the phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor sildenafil (Viagra) or an analog of the drug (www.fda.gov). Although the effects of sildenafil may be noticeable (in men), the presence of other, possibly more toxic adulterants in dietary supplements may be more difficult or impossible to detect.Other drugs previously found in dietary supplements have included lovastatin (Mevacor, and others), estrogen, alprazolam (Xanax, and others), indomethacin (Indocin, and others) and warfarin...

Colesevelam (Welchol - Daiichi Sankyo - Med Lett Drugs Ther 2000; 42:102), a bile-acid sequestrant used to lower LDL cholesterol, has been approved by the FDA as an adjunct to diet and exercise in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. In unpublished studies summarized in the package insert, patients with type 2 diabetes taking metformin (Glucophage, and others), a sulfonylurea or insulin (each as either monotherapy or in combination with other anti-diabetic agents) were given colesevelam 3800 mg per day or placebo; colesevelam significantly reduced glycosylated hemoglobin (A1c) by about 0.5% more...

The May 5, 2008 article (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2008; 50:34) on the approval of natalizumab (Tysabri) for treatment of Crohn's disease in the "Adverse Effects" section on page 35 included the statement: "post-marketing hepatotoxicity, sometimes fatal or requiring liver transplantation, has occurred." Actually, no fatal hepatotoxicity or liver transplantation has been reported to date. The FDA warning about post-marketing hepatotoxicity with Tysabri that was the basis for our statement said: "The combination of transaminase elevations and elevated bilirubin without evidence of obstruction is...

The Medical Letter was founded in 1959 by Arthur Kallet, an engineer, and Dr. Harold Aaron, an internist. In 1932, Kallet had written the book 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs, a best-seller that was partly responsible for the Food and Drug Act of 1938, which required for the first time that new drugs show proof of safety. He was the founding director of Consumers Union and started the publication of Consumer Reports. Dr. Aaron, who became the medical director of Consumer Reports, suggested to Kallet that doctors could use a similar publication to evaluate the new drugs that were coming on the market...

(Med Lett Drugs Ther 2009; 51:25) In the paragraph on dosing, the second-to-last sentence should have said that the new recommendations suggest considering use of an alternative antibiotic when the MIC for the infecting organism is ≥2 mg/L, not >2 mg/L.

View Table 3: Some Drug Interactions with DAAs for HCV Infection

Immune-mediated hemolysis is a rare adverse effect of second- and third-generation cephalosporins, especially cefotetan (Cefotan) (PA Arndt et al, Transfusion 1999; 39:1239). A recent report serves as a reminder that life-threatening immune-mediated hemolysis rarely can follow administration of ceftriaxone (Rocephin), one of the most commonly used parenteral antibiotics in the US (A Citak et al, J Paediatr Child Health 2002; 38:209).