Study Reveals Risk of Heart Failure for Zithromax Patients

Zithromax, Z-Pak and Z-Max — all drugs containing the active ingredient azithromycin — have been linked to sudden heart death according to a massive study done with the antibiotic.

Lead researcher Wayne A. Ray, Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University, said that the risk is small, but significant.

“It’s a small risk,” Ray said. However, “when an equally effective alternative is available, it should be used for patients at high cardiac risk.

The study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 2012 looked at 348,000 Z-Pak prescriptions for Medicaid patients from 1992 through 2006.

The patients who took the azithromycin based antibiotic had a threefold increased risk of heart death when compared to those took no antibiotics.

And, like Ray said, it’s a small risk. There were about 47 deaths per million patients who took one of the three main azithromycin based antibiotics. However, that number soared among patients who were already at risk or diagnosed with heart disease to 245 per million courses of Z-Pak, Zmax or Zithromax.

Dr. Jay Varkey, infectious disease specialist and director of the antibiotic management program at Emory University, said that while he thinks the study was conducted well, it is still inconclusive, and more research needs to be done.

“In and of itself, this study does not warrant a dramatic amount of alarm,” Varkey said. “It calls for more studies see whether the increased death rate was truly due to azithromycin or to the underlying disease being treated.”

Ray and the other researchers also compared those taking Zithromax to those who prescribed amoxicillin since both drugs are prescribed to treat ear, nose and throat infections.

However, according to Varkey, Zithromax is more likely to be prescribed to patients fighting pneumonia, which might also mean that those patients were at higher risk of death to begin with. While Varkey admits that it will make him think twice before prescribing Zithromax to patients with heart problems, he said he more concerned about patients being prescribed antibiotics unnecessarily, which has also been shown to have negative side effects.

“At least half of antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary and inappropriate,” Varkey said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety announcement in March concerning the risk of potentially fatal heart rhythms associated with Zithromax and other azithromycin based drugs. The FDA said that labels on azithromycin based antibiotics were being updated to include the risk.

“Azithromycin (Zithromax or Zmax) can cause abnormal changes in the electrical activity of the heart that may lead to a potentially fatal irregular heart rhythm,” the FDA stated. “Patients at particular risk for developing this condition include those with known risk factors such as existing QT interval prolongation, low blood levels of potassium or magnesium, a slower than normal heart rate, or use of certain drugs used to treat abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias.”

The federal agency advised that doctors need to take into account whether the patient they are prescribing antibiotics to are “at risk for cardiovascular events” before prescribing Zithromax.

The FDA cited the Vanderbilt study as part of the reason for the warning.

If you or someone you know has suffered from a heart attack or stroke after taking Zithromax, legal options are available to you. Learn more and get a free legal consultation regarding a claim eligibility at the Zithromax Z-Pak Azithromycin Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Investigation. Experienced legal professionals have access to medical experts to assess whether or not this antibiotic played a role in your heart attack or stroke, so act now.