U.S. FDA warns about asthma drugs Serevent, Foradil

William Atkins
Saturday, 13 December 2008 02:04

Science - Health

The FDA panel stated that the inhaled asthma drugs Serevent and Foradil do not contain a steroid, which makes it riskier to use than Advair and Symbicort, which contains the same steroid.

All four of the drugs contain long acting beta-adrenoceptor agonists (LABAs).

LABAs are usually prescribed for moderate to severe cases of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

They control asthma for about 12 hours, as opposed to the previous generation of asthma drugs called short-acting B2-agonists, which only last about four to six hours.

Sidney Wolfe, director of Health Research Group (Public Citizen) is quoted in the Reuters’ article as saying, "It looks like use of LABAs alone is more dangerous.”

Officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are considering whether to remove its approval of Serevent and Foradil for use with the American people.

Currently, one camp is requesting that they be withdrawn from the U.S. market, while another group says that complications and deaths are minimal for the two drugs and, with sufficient warnings, their use can continue.

For additional information on these four asthma drugs and the FDA advisory, please read the December 12, 2008 WedMD article “FDA Panel Urges Restrictions on 2 Asthma Drugs,” saying “Serevent, Foradil Inhalers Should Not Be Used Alone, Experts Urge."