english.prescrire.org > Spotlight > Archives : 2012 > In the October issue of Prescrire International: adverse effects of nicorandil, varenicline, venlafaxine and benfluorex

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In the October issue of Prescrire International: adverse effects of nicorandil, varenicline, venlafaxine and benfluorex

FREE DOWNLOAD This excerpt from the latest issue demonstrates the variety of information on medicines and their adverse effects published every month in Prescrire International.
Full text available for free download.

Nicorandil: mucocutaneous ulceration (continued)

  • A very severe case report was published by the Regional Pharmacovigilance Centre in Angers, France
  • An 87-year-old woman taking nicorandil developed severe aphthous stomatitis, and later a sigmoido-uterine fistula and a vesicovaginal fistula

Varenicline and bupropion: suicide

  • Reactions to smoking cessation drugs reported to the FDA database were analysed
  • Adverse effects included cases of suicide, self-harm and severe depression

Venlafaxine: preeclampsia and eclampsia

  • Blood pressure elevation is a well-known adverse effect of venlafaxine
  • One more reason to use antidepressants sparingly during pregnancy

Benfluorex: lesions on a bioprosthetic heart valve too

  • A  40-year-old woman taking benfluorex (formerly marketed under the brand name
    Mediator° among other names) underwent heart valve replacement surgery twice
  • Benfluorex appears to provoke serious valvular injury, even to porcine bioprosthetic valves

Full text available for free download.

©Prescrire 12 October 2012

Prescrire Int 2012; 21 (131) : 240. (Pdf, free)
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