Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) issued a warning. The warning concerned the manner in which patients take certain drugs. The drugs are two commonly prescribed drugs: gabapentin and pregabalin. The FDA found after extensive study that these drugs may cause serious, even life threatening, breathing issues.
The FDA found that these breathing issues may occur when a patient takes either gabapentin or pregabalin in combination with drugs known as CNS depressants. Gabapentin and pregabalin may also cause the same problems if taken by patients who are elderly or who already have respiratory issues. The breathing problems are found to happen even if the gabapentin or pregablin are not taken in combination with a CNS depressant. Continue reading