Long-Term Care Survey Alert
BEXTRA LINKED TO LIFETHREATENING SKIN CONDITIONS
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If a resident taking Bextra develops a skin rash, stop the medication immediately. That’s the recommendation the Food & Drug Administration makes in a recent alert about the drug, which is often prescribed for osteoarthritis and arthritis in long-term care settings. Since the popular Cox-2 inhibitor went on the market, the FDA has received reports of several cases of serious immune-related skin and hypersensitivity reactions in patients taking the drug. While the adverse events are rare, some of the patients who developed them required hospitalization.
The skin conditions associated with Bextra include Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), exfoliate dermatitis and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Clinicians should not prescribe the medication for patients with allergies to sulfa-containing products, which are known to trigger SJS. The new warnings will be published in FDA-required drug labeling for Bextra. Report any unexpected adverse events associated with the use of Bextra directly to the FDA MedWatch program at 1-800-FDA-1088.
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