FDA Z-Pak alert

The FDA announced the popular antibiotic zithromax, or Z-Pak, can cause fatal heart rhythms. In 2011, over 40 million patients were prescribed the drugs.”I think physicians like it because it’s a short therapy. It’s only about five days, there are only a total of six pills to take and even though you only take it for five days it actually lingers in the body for longer than that,” Kilgore’s pharmacist Bill Morrissey says. Doctors say people with irregular heartbeats or low levels of potassium or magnesium in their blood are the most at risk. Patients should let their doctor know if they have any kind of heart problems before taking any antibiotics. Last year the New England Journal of Medicine reported results from a Z-Pak study. It compared Z-Pak treatment with other conventional treatments. Z-Pak users either experience fatal heart problems or had an increase of those problems on a Z-Pak than any other drug or no drugs at all.Warning labels for the drug will not reference heart arrhythmias, but changes are expected. Doctors say to immediately contact your physician if you experience any complications if you are taking a Z-Pak.