On February 9, 2005, Health Canada suspended the marketing of Adderall XR (Shire), a mixture of amphetamine salts used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Med Lett Drugs Ther 1994; 36:109). The immediate-release form of Adderall was never marketed in Canada. The withdrawal was based on 20 reports internationally of sudden death in patients taking the drug. These deaths, 14 of them in children, were not linked to overdose or abuse. The FDA decided that the number of sudden deaths was no greater than expected among the large number of people taking the drug, but because 5...

Telithromycin (Ketek) is an oral erythromycin derivative FDA-approved for treatment of mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia, exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and acute bacterial sinusitis (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2004; 46:66). It is generally considered an alternative antibiotic because of its cost, potential for adverse effects including visual disturbances, exacerbation of myasthenia gravis, hepatotoxicity and drug interactions. A recent report (Ann Intern Med 2006; 144:415) described serious hepatotoxicity probably related to telithromycin in three patients, including one who died...

In the CLINICAL STUDIES - Other Cancers paragraph (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2007; 49:35), the dosage in the first line should be 2.5 mg/kg, not 25 mg/kg.

The article in the July 14th issue contained an error in the last sentence of the last paragraph beginning on page 55. The instrument's reading is determined not by the degree of protrusion of the tympanic membrane, but rather by its mobility.

Patients may be asking about reports in the lay press that exenatide (Byetta - Med Lett Drugs Ther 2005; 47:45), a synthetic peptide that stimulates release of insulin from pancreatic beta cells, has been used by diabetics and non-diabetics to lose weight. Approved by the FDA to improve glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes not controlled by metformin, a sulfonylurea or both, it is given by subcutaneous injection before the morning and evening meals. In clinical trials, some diabetic patients treated with the drug lost weight. No data are available on use in non-diabetics....

Last year, a Medical Letter article reviewing colonoscopy preparations warned that oral sodium phosphate preparations, such as Fleet Phospho-Soda solution and Visicol tablets, could cause significant electrolyte disturbances and, rarely, renal failure (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2005; 47:53). A subsequent report documented acute phosphate nephropathy and renal failure in 21 patients who had used sodium phosphate before colonoscopy (GS Markowitz et al. J Am Soc Nephrol 2005; 16:3389). Seventeen of these patients were women and 14 were taking an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or...

On page 100 of the article "Major Changes in Endocarditis Prophylaxis for Dental, GI and GU Procedures", under the section Highest-Risk Procedures, the word "rubber" should have been omitted. Placement of orthodontic rubber bands is not a highest-risk procedure that justifies prophylaxis; placement of orthodontic (metal) bands is. An orthodontic band is a metal ring that surrounds the tooth and is pressed into place causing movement in closely-spaced teeth and sometimes bleeding when the bands are placed close to the gumline.

The CDC recently reported that fluoroquinoloneresistant strains of Neisseria meningitidis have been detected for the first time in the US in an area around the border of North Dakota and Minnesota (CDC. MMWR, Feb 22, 2008). These isolates were all serogroup B, for which meningococcal vaccines (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2005; 47:29) do not offer protection. Since many laboratories do not test N. meningitidis for antimicrobial susceptibility, it is possible that such resistance is more widespread. A single oral dose of ciprofloxacin (Cipro, and others) 500 mg has been used for prophylaxis after close...

In The Medical Letter article on Sumatriptan Needle-Free Injection for Migraine (2010; 52:50), on page 51, in Table 2, the injection volumes of Imitrex and Sumaval are listed as 5 mL. They should be 0.5 mL.

Isotretinoin (Accutane - Roche), an effective oral drug for treatment of acne, will soon be available generically. Concerns about its adverse effects, particularly psychiatric symptoms in adolescents, have been widely reported in the media.