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Ziprasidone associated with rare but potentially fatal skin reactions
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the brown university child and adolescent psychopharmacology update
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7567
pISSN - 1527-8395
DOI - 10.1002/cpu.30035
Subject(s) - ziprasidone , rash , medicine , dermatology , erlotinib , psychiatry , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , clozapine , cancer , epidermal growth factor receptor
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned in December that ziprasidone is associated with a rare but serious skin reaction that can progress to affect other parts of the body. A new warning has been added to the Geodon drug label to describe the serious condition known as Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS). Patients who have a fever with a rash and/or swollen lymph glands should seek urgent medical care. Health care professionals should immediately stop treatment with ziprasidone if DRESS is suspected. DRESS may start as a rash that can spread to all parts of the body. It can include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and inflammation of organs such as the liver, kidney, lungs, heart, or pancreas. DRESS also causes a higher‐than‐normal number of a particular type of white blood cell called eosinophils in the blood. DRESS can lead to death. The FDA reviewed information from six patients in whom the signs and symptoms of DRESS appeared between 11 and 30 days after ziprasidone treatment was started. None of these patients died. Based on this information, the FDA required the manufacturer of Geodon to add a new warning for DRESS to the Warnings and Precautions section of the drug labels for the capsule, oral suspension, and injection formulations.