Study finds no increased risk for CV events associated with azithromycin.

Forbes (5/1, 928K) contributor Larry Husten writes that research published in the New England Journal of Medicine has "found no increased risk for cardiovascular events associated with azithromycin (Zithromax, Pfizer) in a general population of young and middle-age adults."

        MyHealthNewsDaily (5/2, Rettner) reports that these findings "are in contrast to those of a 2012 study that linked azithromycin with a higher risk of dying from heart problems than the antibiotic amoxicillin," which, along with "others prompted the FDA to warn the public in March that azithromycin may cause abnormal, and sometimes fatal, changes in heartbeat in people at risk for heart problems." Meanwhile, "in an editorial accompanying the" new "study, researchers from the Food and Drug Administration said that doctors should consider the heart risks of azithromycin and other antibiotics when prescribing the drugs."

        HealthDay (5/2, Doheny) reports that for the new study, "Danish researchers evaluated more than a million episodes of azithromycin use, comparing it to both the use of no antibiotics and to the use of penicillin V, from 1997 through 2010."

        MedPage Today (5/2, Gever) reports that the data "showed a propensity score-adjusted rate of cardiovascular death of 1.1 per 1,000 patient-years among those currently taking azithromycin, compared with a rate of 1.5 per 1,000 patient-years in penicillin V users (ratio 0.93, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.55)." Heartwire (5/2, Stiles) also covers the story.