Zithromax Side Effects Cast Cloud Over Popular Antibiotic

Zithromax side effects continue to haunt the country’s best-selling antibiotic as users report complications such as heart attack, Stevens Johnson Syndrome and liver failure.

With no upcoming antibiotics expected to compete with Zithromax, it is unlikely that its prescription popularity will decline. Many experts attribute the drug’s popularity to its short prescription requirement, requiring only five days instead of the standard 10. Additionally, Zithromax has proven to be very efficient.

While Zithromax complications have become a concern recently, many experts suspect that this drug has been complicating patients’ lives for decades, leading to Zithromax class action lawsuits. Zithromax was first made in 1980 by the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva. When its research team discovered the drug’s main component, azithromycin, the company patented it a year later. In 1986, Pliva signed a licensing agreement with Pfizer, which gave the pharmaceutical giant the right to sell azithromycin in Western Europe and the United States.

Pfizer began marketing azithromycin as Zithromax in 1991, but does no longer owns the exclusive rights to sell azithromycin because Pliva is now owned by Teva Pharmaceuticals. After Pfizer started selling its exclusive form of azithromycin, it quickly dominated the antibiotic market.

Overview of Zithromax Complications

Various studies regarding Zithromax side effects have been published suggesting that patients have a higher risk of experiencing cardiac complications if they are unnecessarily exposed to the drug. While Zithromax is normally regarded as a superior medication in the medical community, one study found that patients become more susceptible to the drug’s side effects when their bacterial infection is not significant enough to require the drug.

That study led several different scientific organizations to conduct investigations, and created a debate at the 2013 Infectious Diseases Society of America conference. Some supporters of the research pointed out that even though 60 percent of patients are given antibiotics for a sore throat, only 10 percent actually required Zithromax.

Due to the severe side effects associated with Zithromax, Pfizer is currently facing hundreds of Zithromax complications lawsuits across the United States for allegedly not adequately warning patients of the side effects. Zithromax cardiac injury reports reached such a high number that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in 2013. The conditions associated with Zithromax side effects include:

• QT interval prolongation
• Low levels of potassium or magnesium in blood
• Slow heart rate
• Liver damage
• Heart attack

Join a Free Zithromax Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you believe that you or a loved one has been the victim of a Zithromax/Z-Pak injury such as a heart attack, liver damage, or Stevens Johnson Syndrome, you have legal options. See if you qualify to join a free Zithromax class action lawsuit investigation and pursue compensation for you or your loved one’s injuries:

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