Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. offered to pay $499 million to settle federal investigations into whether the company played a role in a pricing scheme that led insurers and government agencies to overpay for drugs. The company reduced its profit forecast to reflect the charges.

Here is a side effect you may never have considered an antibiotic causing: “Imagine taking an antibiotic like Tequin or Cipro for a bad bacterial infection and then getting tendonitis or a tendon rupture as a side effect. Scary. The Public Citizen consumer watchdog organization filed a petition with the FDA to warn people about this critical side effect.” Read More on how Tendon Rupture is Caused by Some Antibiotics.

Bristol-Myers Squibb, maker of the antibiotic Tequin announced to healthcare professionals that the prescription information warning was a result of continued reports of serious cases of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).
Information about the risks of low blood sugar and high blood sugar was added to the warning section in 2002. In 2006, labeling strengthened the existing warning of low blood sugar and high blood sugar along with a contraindication for use in diabetic patients. (FDA)

Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) is a dangerous health condition and is completely preventable. If you have Type 1 diabetes, high blood glucose can lead to DKA. When the body cannot use sugar for energy because of lack of insulin, the body breaks down fat for energy and ketones are made. Ketones are the acids or toxins produced when blood glucose rises in the absence of insulin. Large amounts of ketones in the blood cause the life-threatening problem called diabetic ketoacidosis. When high levels of ketones are in the blood, the ketones spill into the urine, just as sugar does. Your whole body becomes too acid: in other words, you have acidosis (BC Health)

Last year the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey forced the company to comply with a deferred prosecution agreement after an investigation into $2.5 billion worth of channel stuffing which is a practice that involves overloading wholesalers with drugs to meet quarterly sales targets. (Read More)

To help physicians with the appropriate use of antibiotics in children and adults with upper respiratory tract infection, a multidisciplinary team evaluated existing guidelines and summarized key practice points. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 100 million antibiotic prescriptions are written each year in the ambulatory care setting. With so many prescriptions written each year, inappropriate antibiotic use will promote resistance. The misuses of antibiotics have led to antibiotic resistant bacteria. (AAFP)

Public Citizen urges antibiotic warnings has now urged U.S. Food and Drug Administration to place a “black box” warning of tendon rupture on fluoroquinolones. The consumer advocacy group also urged the FDA in a petition to require pharmacists to issued patient medication guides that carry the warning. “Tendon ruptures associated with Tequin and these drugs continue to occur at a disturbing rate but could be prevented if doctors and patients were more aware of early warning signals, such as the onset of tendon pain, and switched to other antibiotics,” said Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group. “The FDA must act and require black box warnings and patient information guides.” Fluoroquinolones include Bayer’s Cipro, Aventis’ Penetrex, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Tequin, Ortho-McNeil’s Levaquin and Merck’s Noroxin. (Pharma Live)