June 6, 2006—An analysis of 19 studies assessing the safety of long-acting asthma medicines, including Advair and Serevent, revealed that patients on the drugs are more than twice as likely to be hospitalized compared to those taking placebos.
Advair carries a black box warning alerting patients to serious risks associated with the drug. The researchers estimated that Advair may be responsible for as many as 4,000 of the 5,000 asthma-related deaths each year in the United States.
The report prompted the FDA to reduce the following public health advisory:
Even though LABAs decrease the frequency of asthma episodes, these medicines may make asthma episodes more severe when they occur.
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