The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended administration of the quadrivalent conjugated polysaccharide meningococcal vaccine (Menactra – Sanofi Pasteur) to all persons 11 to 18 years old, particularly those entering high school and college freshmen living in dormitories.1,2 The peak incidence of meningococcal disease, after early childhood, occurs in the 15-19 year-old age group. The conjugate vaccine is more immunogenic than the meningococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine (Menommune – Sanofi Pasteur).ADVERSE EFFECTS — The most common adverse reactions with...

The FDA has issued an update (August 18, 2008; www.fda.gov) on occurrences of acute pancreatitis in patients with diabetes taking exenatide (Byetta – Amylin/Lilly). The latest update, which follows an FDA Alert in October 2007, reports 6 cases of hemorrhagic or necrotizing pancreatitis with 2 deaths in patients taking the drug. Whether pancreatitis occurs more often in patients taking exenatide than in patients with diabetes not taking exenatide is not clear.1Given by subcutaneous injection, exenatide is a synthetic peptide that stimulates release of insulin from pancreatic beta cells.2 It...

(Med Lett Drugs Ther 2008; 50:94) In Table 1, "Invasive" should be "less" and "more" rather than "no" and "yes" for CT colonography and colonoscopy, respectively. In the conclusion, CT colonography should be changed to "less invasive" rather than "noninvasive".

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.

Benzyl Alcohol Lotion for Head Lice (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2009; 51:57) In Table 1, the price for lindane 1% shampoo should be $136.86 (not $3.00). When a Statin Fails (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2009; 51:58) The first sentence should read as follows: "The National Cholesterol Program recommends that LDL-C be lowered to less than 100 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L) for patients at high risk...." Tapentadol (Nucynta) - A New Analgesic (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2009; 51:61) In table 1, the half-life for tapentadol should be 4 hours (not...

Corrections: Biannual IV Zoledronic Acid (Reclast) for Prevention of Osteoporosis (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2009; 51:49) - The first word of the title should have been Biennial, not Biannual.
Golimumab (Simponi) for Inflammatory Arthritis (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2009; 51:55) - In Table 1 on page 55, the price for certolizumab (Cimzia) should have been $1,341.68 (not $3,136.40).

The FDA recently approved vandetanib [van det´ a nib] (Caprelsa – AstraZeneca) for oral treatment of symptomatic or progressive medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) in patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic disease. Vandetanib is the first drug approved in the US for medullary thyroid cancer.

The FDA has approved sebelipase alfa (Kanuma – Alexion), a recombinant form of lysosomal acid lipase (LAL), for enzyme replacement therapy in patients with LAL deficiency. Sebelipase alfa is the first drug to be approved in the US for treatment of LAL deficiency, a rare autosomal recessive storage disease.

The oral kinase inhibitor tucatinib (Tukysa – Seagen) has received accelerated approval from the FDA for use in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) for treatment of adults with RAS wild-type human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin-, and irinotecan-based chemotherapy regimens. Tucatinib was approved in 2020 for use in combination with trastuzumab and capecitabine (Xeloda, and generics) for treatment of adults with advanced unresectable or...