An FDA panel has recommended that stronger warnings about hepatotoxicity be added to the labeling for acetaminophen (www.fda.gov, search "acetaminophen hepatotoxicity").

Cetirizine (Zyrtec - Pfizer), a histamine H 1 -receptor antagonist, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis, perennial allergic rhinitis and chronic idiopathic urticaria in adults and children more than 12 years old.

Acrivastine/Pseudoephedrine (Semprex-D) for Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis (Burroughs-Wellcome), a combination of acrivastine with pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis. Acrivastine is a new H 1 -receptor antagonist with a chemical structure similar to that of triprolidine (Actidil, and others) (RN Brogden and D McTavish, Drugs, 41:927, 1991). Pseudoephedrine is an α -adrenergic agonist. The combination is available only by prescription.

Loratadine (Claritin - Schering), a new H 1 -receptor antagonist, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis in patients more than 12 years old. It will compete with older, relatively sedating drugs such as chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton, and others) and clemastine (Tavist - Medical Letter, 35:9, 1993) and with newer relatively non-sedating agents such as terfenadine (Seldane) and astemizole (Hismanal).

Advertisements for clemastine (Tavist-1 - Sandoz), an ethanolamine oral antihistamine, have recently appeared on television and in major newspapers in the USA. Clemastine is an old drug (Medical Letter, 21:24, 1979) that has now become available without a prescription.