Arava - An Improved Drug? |
| A recent study has found that only 15% of new drugs approved in the last decade were novel chemicals that the FDA deemed a significant improvement over older drugs. It is not just Arava liver failure that is the concern, but of lymphoma, hypertension, and other problems have also been reported. |
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Dangers of Arava Arava is dangerous, not just because of the life threatening and serious Arava side effects associated to the rheumatoid arthritis drug, but because the inability to predicts which patients are at risk and the short amount of time it takes for the drug to affect someone. In six months Arava patients have suffered from the dangerous side effects associated to the drug and even when discontinuing the rheumatoid arthritis drug treatment patients are still at risk because it remains within the body as it slowly dissipates. Rheumatoid arthritis affects around 2 million Americans, typically affecting adults between the ages of 25-50. If you have taken Arava and would like more information due to
the serious Arava
side effects that you have, or still are, experiencing, please
CONTACT
US to learn more. |
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Arava is especially dangerous due to the amount of time the drug remains in the body after discontinuing its use, so the risk of harming an unborn baby can still be great. click here to read more » |
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A recent study has found that only 15% of new drugs approved in the last decade were novel chemicals that the FDA deemed a significant improvement over older drugs. click here to read more » |
Arava News- March 29, 2002 Public Citizen's petition followed the February 2001 European Agency for the Evaluation of Medical Products warning issued to doctors and patients citing nine liver failure deaths in Arava patients. Two months following, Arava manufacturer Aventis Pharmaceuticals issued a warning letter to physicians. Last August, the American College of Rheumatology then published a warning to doctors and patients urging a monthly blood test be performed in an Arava patient's first six months with follow up tests every two to three months after. Yocum said he has never supported taking a drug off the market, "but it's kind of scary, what we see." (MSNBC, 3-29-02) - March 28, 2002 The FDA has received 130 reports of severe liver problems in Arava patients since the drug's 1998 U.S. debut. Reports of lymphoma and drug induced hypertension in Arava patients, as well as blood and gastrointestinal reactions leading to hospitalizations have been found, according to Public Citizen. Director of Arizona Arthritis Center and former scientific adviser to the FDA, Dr. David Yocum, also agrees that Arava should be pulled from the market. Yocum has treated a patient on Arava that died from liver failure, and he finds Public Citizen's data to be "idiosyncratic and unpredictable". The resulting deaths and serious Arava side effects associated to the rheumatoid arthritis drug appears to have had warning that may have prevented these incidents from occurring. In February 2001, the European Medicines Evaluation Agency warned of severe liver reactions with some fatal outcomes occurring in Arava patients. The agency said a total of 296 liver reactions had been reported by that time with 129 cases considered serious and nine having a fatal outcome. (Reuters, 3-28-02) - March 28, 2002 |
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Arava (leflunomide) manufacturer was sent a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services notifying them that The Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications reviewed their submissions and found they had violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The FDA had identified violations in the following Arava materials:
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