Asthma drugs get precaution labeling by FDA for psychiatric side effects

One more class of drugs with possible neuropsychiatric side effects revealed. How many people with psych diagnosis are made worse by these every day without even knowing it?

My guess is it’s in the millions. I don’t know enough about asthma to recommend alternatives but it seems to make sense to do some research if you’re faced with being offered a prescription of these sorts of drugs.

From MSNBC:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday requested that the makers of a class of asthma drugs called leukotriene receptor agonists place a “precaution” on the drugs’ labeling, warning of the potential for neuropsychiatric events.

The drugs in question include the blockbuster medication Singulair (montelukast), as well as Accolate (zafirlukast). Zyflo and Zyflo CR (zileuton), drugs in a class known as leukotriene synthesis inhibitors, are also included in the labeling change.

“The reported neuropsychiatric events include postmarket cases of agitation, aggression, anxiousness, dream abnormalities and hallucinations, depression, insomnia, irritability, restlessness, suicidal thinking and behavior [including suicide], and tremor,” the agency said in a statement posted on its Web site Friday. (emphasis mine)

In its advice to patients, the FDA said that patients taking these medications should be aware of the potential hazard and talk to their doctor if some sort of neuropsychiatric problem occurs. Doctors may then decide to discontinue the medication, the agency said. (read the rest)