Parkinson's drug pulled from market (Permax/pergolide)

[rainbow4321]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/politics/16994779.htm

A drug used by several thousand patients with Parkinson's disease is being pulled from the market because of reports of heart valve damage.

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that pergolide, sold under the name Permax and also in generic versions, is being withdrawn at the agency's request. At least 14 patients have needed to have heart valves replaced, Temple said, adding he believes that is an underestimate.

He estimated that between 12,000 and 25,000 people currently used the drug, which is known as a dopamine agonist.

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Temple said withdrawal was requested after two recent studies, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, indicated high rates of valve leakage - up to 20 percent - in patients taking the drug.