Watch for this antibiotic if you have heart disease, FDA says

People with heart disease need to be careful about using the common antibiotic clarithromycin, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.

Heart disease patients who take the drug, sold under the brand name Biaxin, can die years later, the FDA said.

The FDA said it does not know how clarithromycin might cause heart problems or death, but it’s been warning about the problem since 2005. And review of data 10 years later shows heart patients still have a higher risk of dying if they took the antibiotic for two weeks.

It did not say how much higher the risk is.

“FDA is advising caution before prescribing the antibiotic clarithromycin (Biaxin) to patients with heart disease because of a potential increased risk of heart problems or death that can occur years later,” the FDA said in a statement.

Source:  nbcnews