Public Citizen calls on FDA to ban Tequin
US consumer group Public Citizen has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to ban the antibiotic Tequin (gatifloxacin) because it is linked to blood sugar abnormalities and has caused deaths and hospitalizations.
The drug, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and approved for use in the USA in December 1999, has been linked to severe cases of low blood sugar and high blood sugar. The drug is used to treat chronic bronchitis, acute sinusitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infection and gonorrhea. In 2005, 1.2 million prescriptions for the drug were filled.
According to Public Citizen's analysis of adverse events reported to the FDA, 388 patients had dangerously low or high blood sugar as a result of taking Tequin between January 1, 2000, and June 30, 2005. Of those, 20 people died and 159 were hospitalized, says Public Citizen.
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