Author: Joshua Alexander, MD, FAAP, FAAPMR
Recently, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) announced that Janssen Pharmaceutica will stop marketing Cisapride (Propulsid(R)) in the United States as of July 14, 2000.
The decision to pull the drug from the US market was made in response to reports of abnormal heart rhythms and deaths linked to use of the drug in special circumstances.
While cisapride has been approved to treat gastroesophageal reflux (GER) disease in adults, it has also been used to decrease GER in infants and children.
Alternative medications, like metoclopramide (Reglan(R)), can be instituted instead of cisapride, but families need to be familiar with its use and potential side effects.
Ask your doctor for more information, and look for an upcoming description of metoclopramide in the meds of the month section.
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