DEATHS REPORTED BY PFIZER; SIX VIAGRA PATIENTS DIE; SHARES TUMBLE.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Pfizer Inc. reported that six patients taking its new impotence drug Viagra died, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. While it's not known whether Viagra played any role in the deaths, the news sent Pfizer shares down 3 11/16 to 105 7/16 on trading of 9.7 million, almost double the three-month average. Viagra appeared in the U.S. market last month ballyhooed as the next great wonder drug, and doctors quickly wrote more than 1 million prescriptions. On Thursday, Viagra suffered its first bit of bad publicity when Pfizer urged doctors to adhere to adhere to verb 1. follow, keep, maintain, respect, observe, be true, fulfil, obey, heed, keep to, abide by, be loyal, mind, be constant, be faithful 2. the warning on the drug's label that patients taking nitroglycerin nitroglycerin (nī'trōglĭs`ərĭn), C3H5N3O9, colorless, oily, highly explosive liquid. It is the nitric acid triester of glycerol and is more correctly called glycerol trinitrate. shouldn't take Viagra. Viagra will remain on the market while the FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. investigates the drug, said agency spokeswoman Ivy Kupec. ``FDA continues to believe the drug is safe and effective for its labeled indication and intended patient population,'' Kupec said. The agency has asked Pfizer to give patients more information on proper use of the drug, she added. The FDA's Kupec said she didn't have any more information on the circumstances surrounding the deaths, and Pfizer wouldn't comment on the matter. Officials in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and Ventura counties said they knew of no deaths of people who had been using Viagra, but some expressed concern. Dr. Jon Kobashigawa, associate clinical professor of cardiology cardiology Medical specialty dealing with heart diseases and disorders. It began with the 1749 publication by Jean Baptiste de Sénac of contemporary knowledge of the heart. Diagnostic methods improved in the 19th century, and in 1905 the electrocardiograph was invented. at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX school of medicine, said there was a case this month where a person who had been taking Viagra went to the UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. with very low blood pressure. He said the patient has since recovered, and it's not clear that there was any causal relationship between the Viagra and the low blood pressure. ``But there is concern, especially in light of the recent six deaths in patients using Viagra,'' Kobashigawa said. ``I think patients with advanced heart disease should be very careful. These patients are also on blood-pressure-lowering medications. Viagra lowers the blood pressure even further, so there is potential for excess low blood pressure,'' Kobashigawa said. |
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