{"id":1720,"date":"2013-03-13T15:27:51","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T15:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/?p=1720"},"modified":"2025-09-10T18:31:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T18:31:32","slug":"z-pack-heart-warning-issued-by-fda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/z-pack-heart-warning-issued-by-fda\/","title":{"rendered":"Zithromax Z-pak Warnings Issued by FDA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered Pfizer to update the Zithromax Z-pak Warnings label for the widely used antibiotic Zithromax after researchers foundd that the drug can increase the risks of potentially fatal irregular heartbeats.<\/p>\n<p>Pfizer\u2019s popular antibiotic azithromycin, sold as Zithromax, Z-pak, and Zmax, often prescribed by physicians to treat bacterial infections like sinus infections, strep throat, bronchitis, and urinary tract infections, has been determined to cause a potentially fatal change in the electrical activity in the heart, altering the rhythm of heartbeats, and creating an increased risk of death among certain patients. In fact, researchers published a study in the New England Journal of Medicine last May which found an increased risk of cardiovascular death in patients who took Zithromax over other types of antibiotics like amoxicillin and ciprofloxacin, as well as others. (https:\/\/abclocal.go.com\/wpvi\/story?section=news\/health&amp;id=9017679)<\/p>\n<p>Z-Pak Symptoms<\/p>\n<p>According to Reuters, the <a title=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/u-fda-says-zithromax-cause-fatal-irregular-hearth-142850905--finance.html\" href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/u-fda-says-zithromax-cause-fatal-irregular-hearth-142850905--finance.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FDA announced Z-pak increases the risk of prolonged QT interval<\/a>, which is a potentially fatal condition where the contractions of the heart become irregular. The FDA said that physicians should practice caution when prescribing the antibiotic to certain at-risk patients including the elderly and those with:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Below normal levels of magnesium or potassium<\/li>\n<li>Abnormal heart rhythms<\/li>\n<li>Arrhythmias<\/li>\n<li>Low heart rate<\/li>\n<li>A rare condition known as torsades de pointes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>FDA Safety Information<\/p>\n<p>The <a title=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/Safety\/MedWatch\/SafetyInformation\/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts\/ucm343350.htm\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/Safety\/MedWatch\/SafetyInformation\/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts\/ucm343350.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FDA is urging patients not to stop taking Z-Packs<\/a> without speaking first to their physicians, and that if a patients is currently using Zithromax and experiences the following symptoms they should seek medical attention immediately.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dizziness<\/li>\n<li>Shortness of breath<\/li>\n<li>Fainting<\/li>\n<li>Irregular heartbeat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The federal agency also recommended in a statement that \"Health care professionals should consider the risk of fatal heart rhythms with azithromycin when considering treatment options for patients who are already at risk for cardiovascular events.,\"<\/p>\n<p>Pfizer issued an email statement saying that \u201cThe majority of patients treated with Zithromax (azithromycin) are not affected by this label update.\u201d The company said Zithromax \u201chas had a well established benefit risk profile for more than 20 years and continues to be an effective treatment option for patients all over the globe suffering from many types of bacterial infections.\u201d( https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-03-12\/heart-warning-added-to-pfizer-s-z-pak-antibiotic-by-fda.html)<\/p>\n<p>About the Cochran Firm-Ohio<\/p>\n<p>The Cochran Firm \u2013 Ohio is an experienced full service, personal injury law firm with offices in Cincinnati and Dayton and handles personal injury cases throughout all of Ohio. Founded over 40 years ago by famed attorney, Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., The Cochran Firm \u2013 Ohio, has established itself as one of the premier personal injury law firms in the United States and has been recognized for delivering successful results to their clients across a broad range of claims stemming from car \/ auto accidents, personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, premises liability, and product liability lawsuits. For over 40 years, The Cochran Firm \u2013 Ohio\u2019s team of experienced lawyers continually fight for justice for all its clients. If you\u2019ve been injured call Ohio\u2019s experienced full service law firm \u201cThe Cochran Firm \u2013 Ohio\u201d today at 513-381-HURT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered Pfizer to update the Zithromax Z-pak Warnings label for the widely used antibiotic Zithromax after researchers foundd that the drug can increase the risks of potentially fatal irregular heartbeats. Pfizer\u2019s popular antibiotic azithromycin, sold as Zithromax, Z-pak, and Zmax, often prescribed by physicians to treat bacterial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1720"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2256,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720\/revisions\/2256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/cincinnati\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}