Study Cites Increased Death Risk From Asthma Drugs

James Sabatini

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Accoring to a new analysis of 19 studies, popular asthma medicines such as Advair and Serevent pose a substantially increased risk of hospitalization and death to users compared with placebos. This new analysis raises the possibility that the drug should be taken off the market if it continues to be so widely used.

The Washington Post quoted the lead author of the new analysis, Shelley Salpeter of Stanford University:

What we have here is a drug that increases the number of people who will die from the disease it is treating. The long-acting bronchodilators can help reduce symptoms for many people, but we think the price in terms of serious side effects and deaths is unacceptable.

The use of long-acting bronchodilators can be associated with a clinically significant number of internsive care admissions and deaths each year. In this new anaylsis, the authors estimate that Advair may be responsbile for as many as 4,000 to 5,000 asthma-related deaths each year in the United States.

Read more about the study linking increased death risk from asthma drugs.