What is Glaxo Wellcome telling health care providers today?
The manufacturer of Lotronex (alosetron) tablets — a drug used to treat irritable bowel syndrome in women — has voluntarily decided to withdraw Lotronex from the market after discussions with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on how to best manage risk. This drug has been associated with reports of serious side effects such as intestinal damage as a result of reduced blood flow to the intestine (ischemic colitis), severely obstructed or ruptured bowels (complications of severe constipation), and death. What is Lotronex? Lotronex is a prescription medicine used to treat women with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who have diarrhea as their main symptom (diarrhea-predominant IBS). Lotronex has not been shown to help men with IBS. What is IBS? IBS is also called irritable colon and spastic colon. IBS causes lower abdominal pain and discomfort, urgency (a sudden need to have a bowel movement), and irregular bowel habits, such as diarrhea or constipation. In some people IBS causes most
