Bed-Wetting Drug Makes Victims

By Alexander Toldt
08:52, December 7th 2007
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Bed-Wetting Drug Makes Victims

The United States’ Food and Drug Administration announced on Tuesday that two patients taking desmopressin, which is a drug to control bed-wetting, died. The health officials also said that it was still unclear whether the drug had contributed to the deaths. However, the agency added that nasal versions of desmopressin were no longer approved for treating bed-wetting and asked doctors and patients to take these indications into consideration.

Desmopressin is currently sold under the names DDAVP Nasal Spray, DDVP, DDAVP Rhinal Tube, Stimate Nasal Spray and Minirin. Sanofi-Aventis is one of the several companies making these medications.

The Food and Drug Adminstration warned also about the other forms of the drug and asked people to use them “cautiously” especially in patients at risk of sodium imbalances that can be caused by over-hydration.

Before making public these warnings, the FDA reviewed 61 reports of people treated with desmopressin that developed seizures related to hyponatremia, which is a health condition when sodium’s level is too low. Two of these people died; their ages were of 28 and 80 respectively, according to Susan Cruzan, FDA’s spokeswoman.

Thirty-six seizure reports were associated with intranasal forms of desmopressin. However, patients were also advised to stop treatment with tablets during episodes that may trigger fever, recurrent vomiting, or diarrhea.



© 2007 - 2009 - eFluxMedia
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