MHRA warns about interactions with statins
Updated prescribing advice for atorvastatin, including new dose restrictions when it is given with clarithromycin, itraconazole and ciclosporin, is issued in the latest Drug
Safety Update published by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
A table summarises the most important and common interactions with statins
and recommends specific dose restrictions for atorvastatin and simvastatin
when used in combination with certain drugs.
The bulletin advises that, if the use of an interacting drug is considered
essential,it is particularly important to start on the lowest statin
dose.
The bulletin also warns about the potential for CNS toxicity when high
intravenous doses of methylthioninium chloride (methylene blue) — a
drug used to treat methaemoglobinaemia and as a visualising agent in
surgical procedures — are given to patients taking serotonergic
drugs.
It says that the drug should preferably be avoided in patients who have
recently been treated with serotonergic drugs but that if this is not
possible then the minimum possible dose should be used and the patient
should be observed closely for CNS effects for up to four hours after
administration.
A review
of long-acting beta2-agonists
for asthma is also
published in the January 2008 Drug Safety Update
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