|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Senior Alert
Foreign Drugs May Have Same Name as US Product but
Different Ingredients
FDA warns seniors confusion with brand names can be
disaster
Jan. 12, 2006 - An FDA investigation by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration has found that many foreign medications,
although marketed under the same or similar-sounding brand names as
those in the United States, contain different active ingredients than in
the United States. Taking a different active ingredient may not help,
and may even harm, the user, warns the FDA.
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
Human Growth Hormone Still Hyped for Anti-aging
Benefits – But?
Senior citizens need to know more about HGH – it's
not legal for anti-aging
Jan. 10, 2006 - Can growth hormone reverse the
aging process? As long as that question is out there, hucksters will
keep selling human growth hormone (HGH) to aging Americans, who are
grasping for a youth that has slipped away. NBC's Today Show this
morning featured Dr. Judith Reichman providing medical and legal
information about this hormone, and various formulations and growth
hormone substitutes that are sold by the multi-billion dollar anti-aging
industry. Read
more...
Read more
Senior Alerts |
|
The FDA is warning healthcare professionals and
consumers that filling their prescriptions abroad may have adverse
health consequences because of confusion with drug brand names that
could inadvertently lead consumers to take the wrong medication for
their condition.
Senior citizens, as the largest drug consumers and
the most active in seeking less expensive medications, should be
particularly careful when buying from providers outside the U.S.
"Consumers who fill U.S. prescriptions abroad,
either when traveling or when shopping at foreign internet pharmacies,
need to be aware of this potential health hazard," said Dr. Murray
Lumpkin, Deputy Commissioner for International and Special Programs.
"The name of a drug bought from another country may be identical or
similar to the name on the U.S. prescription, but the active ingredient
in the medicine may be different and not provide the right treatment."
FDA's investigation illustrates this health risk
inherent in filling U.S. prescriptions abroad and highlights the lack of
standardization of drug trade names internationally.
For example, in the United States, "Flomax" is a
brand name for tamsulosin, a treatment for an enlarged prostate, while
in Italy, the active ingredient in the product called "Flomax" is
morniflumate, an anti-inflammatory drug.
In the United States, "Norpramin" is the brand name
for an anti-depression drug containing desipramine but, in Spain, the
same brand name, "Norpramin," is used for a drug that contains
omeprazole, a treatment for stomach ulcers.
While some of the identical brand names have
different active ingredients appropriate for the same health condition,
even these products should not be substituted without the guidance of a
healthcare professional because of the potential for different doses,
side effects, allergies, and interactions with other drugs.
FDA also has found 105 U.S. brand names that have
foreign counterparts that look or sound so similar that consumers who
fill such prescriptions abroad may receive a drug with the wrong active
ingredient.
For example, in the United Kingdom, "Amyben," a
brand name for a drug product containing amiodarone, used to treat
abnormal heart rhythms, could be mistaken for "Ambien," a U.S. brand
name for a sleeping pill. Using Amyben instead of Ambien could have a
serious adverse outcome.
For more information, see FDA's Public Health
Advisory at
www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/reports/confusingnames.html.
Click here to Search SeniorJournal.com for more on
this subject
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
