AIDS drug sparks concern.AIDS drug sparks concern In some patients, the experimental AIDS drug dideoxyinosine dideoxyinosine /di·de·oxy·in·o·sine/ (-in´o-sen) didanosine. di·de·ox·y·in·o·sine n. ddI. (DDI ddI and ddC: see AZT. ) appears to increase the risk of death from pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas. Researchers expressed concern about the link last week after DDI manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), colloquially referred to as BMS, is a pharmaceutical corporation, formed by a 1989 merger between pharmaceutical companies Bristol-Myers Company, founded in 1887 by William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers in Clinton, NY (both were Co. of New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. said six AIDS patients taking DDI had died of pancreatitis and that five of those were enrolled in a federally approved program approved program Grad education An education program which is approved by a overseeing body–eg, a licensing or professional board or governmental agency that allows widespread distribution of DDI. About 8,000 people with AIDS The People With AIDS (PWA) Self-Empowerment Movement was a movement of those diagnosed with AIDS and grew out of San Francisco. The PWA Self-Empowerment Movement believes that those diagnosed as having AIDS should "take charge of their own life, illness, and care, and to minimize took advantage of the Food and Drug Administration's decision last fall to approve the expanded-access program, which allows Bristol-Myers Squibb to provide DDI to severely ill AIDS patients who fail to qualify for clinical DDI trials (SN: 10/7/89, p.231). Participating patients get DDI from private physicians who agree to inform the manufacturer of any problems. Now Bristol-Myers Squibb reports 290 deaths out of 8,000 people enrolled in the program, with five of those deaths due to pancreatitis, says spokeswoman Kathryn Bloom. In contrast, the company reports two deaths (one due to pancreatitis) among the 700 AIDS patients enrolled in Phase II clinical trials. "Bad news like this makes you want to look more closely at how [the access program] is being administered," says Jeffrey Laurence of the Cornell University Medical College in New York City. Bloom contends the higher overall death rate among expanded-access patients stems from the severity of their illness upon entering the program. |
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