FDA Received 179,855 Reports Of Serious Or Fatal Drug Reactions In 2011.

Michael R. Cohen, RPh, writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer  (6/7) "Check Up" blog, "You may be surprised to learn that in 2011, the Food and Drug Administration received 179,855 reports of serious or fatal adverse drug reactions," with "the 10 drugs with the largest numbers of reports" being "Pradaxa [dabigatran], Coumadin [warfarin sodium], Levaquin [levofloxacin], Carboplatin, Zestril [lisinopril], Cisplatin, Zocor [simvastatin], Cymbalta [duloxetine], Cipro [ciprofloxacin] and Bactrim [sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim]." Given that "just two of these drugs were first introduced in the last decade (Pradaxa and Cymbalta), and only one in the previous year (Pradaxa)...major drug safety issues are not confined to recently approved drugs." Pradaxa lead in "overall number of reports (3,781), deaths (542), hemorrhage (2,367), acute renal failure (291), and stroke (644)."