G McCann - The antihistamine drug Terfenadine and its side effects.

[Mr Gray]

It hasn't been out of use for years so that premise is erroneous to begin with.  The drug is widely available from foreign suppliers.

It has been out of use for many years...withdrawn from the us market in 1997....look at my post 133...why would any doctor want to get hold of it when there are better options easily available in stock at the local pharmacy...and why is it on the Portuguese wiki site...has it become a general word in Portuguese to describe hayfever medicines...

[Mr Gray]

You obviously don't know how this works.  He would had ample opportunity to confirm the contents of his statement and would have had it read back to him in English before signing it.

We all know how it works..Gerry didn't have a clue what was in that statement apart from what was read back to him and we have now idea how accurate that was ..and neither does Gerry...very poor policing ...should have been audiotaped...sloppy as hell

[Mr Gray]

You obviously don't know how this works.  He would had ample opportunity to confirm the contents of his statement and would have had it read back to him in English before signing it.

When Gerry made this statement he was regarded as a victim of a crime...not a suspect...he would not be concerned about every detail

[John]

We all know how it works..Gerry didn't have a clue what was in that statement apart from what was read back to him and we have now idea how accurate that was ..and neither does Gerry...very poor policing ...should have been audiotaped...sloppy as hell

Totally untrue and very disingenuous comment.

[Mr Gray]

Totally untrue and very disingenuous comment.

I think its absolutely true...interviews not taped...Gerry signing a statemnent written in Portuguese..of course he wasn't cautioned...or the Portuguese equivalent of..... it didn't matter...to me that means non of the statements could never be used in evidence in court...perhaps you could point out where I am wrong

[Mr Gray]

It hasn't been out of use for years so that premise is erroneous to begin with.  The drug was widely available from foreign suppliers.

Taken from wiki...
Terfenadine was an antihistamine formerly used for the treatment of allergic conditions. It was brought to market by Hoechst Marion Roussel (now Sanofi-Aventis) and marketed under various brand names, including Seldane in the United States, Triludan in the United Kingdom, and Teldane in Australia. According to its manufacturer, terfenadine had been used by over 100 million patients worldwide as of 1990.[1] It was superseded by fexofenadine in the 1990s due to the risk of a particular type of disruption of the electrical rhythms of the heart (specifically cardiac arrhythmia caused by QT interval prolongation).

 Read the post and take particular note of the words highlighted in red...out of use for many years seems pretty accurate to me

[stephen25000]

Taken from wiki...
Terfenadine was an antihistamine formerly used for the treatment of allergic conditions. It was brought to market by Hoechst Marion Roussel (now Sanofi-Aventis) and marketed under various brand names, including Seldane in the United States, Triludan in the United Kingdom, and Teldane in Australia. According to its manufacturer, terfenadine had been used by over 100 million patients worldwide as of 1990.[1] It was superseded by fexofenadine in the 1990s due to the risk of a particular type of disruption of the electrical rhythms of the heart (specifically cardiac arrhythmia caused by QT interval prolongation).

 Read the post and take particular note of the words highlighted in red...out of use for many years seems pretty accurate to me

Banned in the UK in 2007.

[ferryman]

We all know how it works..Gerry didn't have a clue what was in that statement apart from what was read back to him and we have now idea how accurate that was ..and neither does Gerry...very poor policing ...should have been audiotaped...sloppy as hell

Also highly suspicious that the relevant part of Gerry's statement has been highlighted and that Kate (with ithe encyclopaedic memory of the two) makes no mention of the drug in her list of drugs they took on holiday.

[Carew]

of course it isn't...but there is no strong evidence that any sedation took place

*TUTS!*

Well,  why didn`t you attach your        "of course it isn`t"         to Benice in the first place who opined that not getting rid of potentially incriminating drugs is "the strongest evidence" that they didn`t sedate their children?

All I did was follow up the point to disagree with it !.....

[ferryman]

Terfenadine withdrawn in 1997!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/hayfever-drug-taken-off-sale-1269259.html

Made prescription only.

[Mr Gray]

*TUTS!*

Well,  why didn`t you attach your        "of course it isn`t"         to Benice in the first place who opined that not getting rid of potentially incriminating drugs is "the strongest evidence" that they didn`t sedate their children?

All I did was follow up the point to disagree with it !.....

I think benice said that getting rid of the terfenidine was strong evidence IT wasn't used to sedate the children

[stephen25000]

Terfenadine withdrawn in 1997!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/hayfever-drug-taken-off-sale-1269259.html

Made prescription only.

Are you therefore saying people can't get hold of drugs after they become prescription only ?

 8-)(--)

[ferryman]

Sorry, think I have the wrong thread with my last post

People have been marched off and executed by firing squad for less ...

I digress.

Terfenadine was an antihistamine formerly used for the treatment of allergic conditions. It was brought to market by Hoechst Marion Roussel (now Sanofi-Aventis) and marketed under various brand names, including Seldane in the United States, Triludan in the United Kingdom, and Teldane in Australia. According to its manufacturer, terfenadine had been used by over 100 million patients worldwide as of 1990.[1] It was superseded by fexofenadine in the 1990s due to the risk of a particular type of disruption of the electrical rhythms of the heart (specifically cardiac arrhythmia caused by QT interval prolongation).
Terfenadine is a prodrug, generally completely metabolized to the active form fexofenadine in the liver by the enzyme cytochrome P450 CYP3A4 isoform. Due to its near complete metabolism by the liver immediately after leaving the gut, terfenadine normally is not measurable in the plasma. Terfenadine itself, however, is cardiotoxic at higher doses, while its major active metabolite is not. Toxicity is possible after years of continued use with no previous problems as a result of an interaction with other medications such as erythromycin, or foods such as grapefruit. The addition of, or dosage change in, these CYP3A4 inhibitors makes it harder for the body to metabolize and remove terfenadine. In larger plasma concentrations, it may lead to toxic effects on the heart's rhythm (e.g. ventricular tachycardia and torsades de pointes).
History

In the United States, Seldane was brought to market in 1985 as the first nonsedating antihistamine for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.[1][2] In June 1990, evidence of serious ventricular arrhythmias among those taking Seldane prompted the FDA to issue a report on the risk factors associated with concomitant use of the drug with macrolide antibiotics and ketoconazole.[1] Two months later, the FDA required the manufacturer to send a letter to all physicians, alerting them to the problem; in July 1992, the existing precautions were elevated to a black box warning[1] and the issue attracted mass media attention in reports that people with liver disease or who took ketoconazole, an antifungal agent, or the antibiotic erythromycin, could suffer cardiac arrhythmia if they also took Seldane.[2]
In January 1997, the same month when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had earlier approved a generic version of Seldane made by IVAX Corporation of Miami, the FDA recommended terfenadine-containing drugs be removed from the market and physicians consider alternative medications for their patients.[2] Seldane (and Seldane-D, terfenadine combined with the decongestant pseudoephedrine) were removed from the U.S. market by their manufacturer in late 1997 after the FDA approval of Allegra-D (fexofenadine/pseudoephedrine).[3] Terfenadine-containing drugs were subsequently removed from the Canadian market in 1999,[4] and are no longer available for prescription in the UK.[5]

I have checked the on-line BNF, and I cannot find it listed as a drug there.

erfenadine is a non-sedative antihistamine.

Dosage in adults is 60 mg twice daily.

It has the potential to induce ventricular arrhythmias so it is essential to check the contraindications and to take a careful drug history.

Terfenadine should not be used if a patient has heart or liver problems; a patient should not take terfenadine with grapefruit juice; and the recommended dose should never be exceeded.

Terfenadine interacts with some other medications e.g. erythromycin and clarithromycin. Possible interactions with terfenadine should be checked before prescribing terfenadine.

Terfenadine is now only available on prescription.

The summary of product characteristics must be consulted before prescribing terfenadine.

Notes:

terfenadine is only available in the UK on a named-patient basis through specialist importers. There are no longer any licensed preparations containing terfenadine available in the UK (November 2005)

[stephen25000]

People have been marched off and executed by firing squad for less ...

I digress.

Terfenadine was an antihistamine formerly used for the treatment of allergic conditions. It was brought to market by Hoechst Marion Roussel (now Sanofi-Aventis) and marketed under various brand names, including Seldane in the United States, Triludan in the United Kingdom, and Teldane in Australia. According to its manufacturer, terfenadine had been used by over 100 million patients worldwide as of 1990.[1] It was superseded by fexofenadine in the 1990s due to the risk of a particular type of disruption of the electrical rhythms of the heart (specifically cardiac arrhythmia caused by QT interval prolongation).
Terfenadine is a prodrug, generally completely metabolized to the active form fexofenadine in the liver by the enzyme cytochrome P450 CYP3A4 isoform. Due to its near complete metabolism by the liver immediately after leaving the gut, terfenadine normally is not measurable in the plasma. Terfenadine itself, however, is cardiotoxic at higher doses, while its major active metabolite is not. Toxicity is possible after years of continued use with no previous problems as a result of an interaction with other medications such as erythromycin, or foods such as grapefruit. The addition of, or dosage change in, these CYP3A4 inhibitors makes it harder for the body to metabolize and remove terfenadine. In larger plasma concentrations, it may lead to toxic effects on the heart's rhythm (e.g. ventricular tachycardia and torsades de pointes).
History

In the United States, Seldane was brought to market in 1985 as the first nonsedating antihistamine for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.[1][2] In June 1990, evidence of serious ventricular arrhythmias among those taking Seldane prompted the FDA to issue a report on the risk factors associated with concomitant use of the drug with macrolide antibiotics and ketoconazole.[1] Two months later, the FDA required the manufacturer to send a letter to all physicians, alerting them to the problem; in July 1992, the existing precautions were elevated to a black box warning[1] and the issue attracted mass media attention in reports that people with liver disease or who took ketoconazole, an antifungal agent, or the antibiotic erythromycin, could suffer cardiac arrhythmia if they also took Seldane.[2]
In January 1997, the same month when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had earlier approved a generic version of Seldane made by IVAX Corporation of Miami, the FDA recommended terfenadine-containing drugs be removed from the market and physicians consider alternative medications for their patients.[2] Seldane (and Seldane-D, terfenadine combined with the decongestant pseudoephedrine) were removed from the U.S. market by their manufacturer in late 1997 after the FDA approval of Allegra-D (fexofenadine/pseudoephedrine).[3] Terfenadine-containing drugs were subsequently removed from the Canadian market in 1999,[4] and are no longer available for prescription in the UK.[5]

I have checked the on-line BNF, and I cannot find it listed as a drug there.

............and the point of this is ???

[stephen25000]

   '  terfenadine is only available in the UK on a named-patient basis through specialist importers. There are no longer any licensed preparations containing terfenadine available in the UK (November 2005)

Reference:

    Committee on Safety of Medicines (21/4/1997). Terfenadine: proposed change to prescription use, letter from Professor M D Rawlins.
    Current Issues in Pharmacovigilance (1997), 23, 9. '

 >@@(*&)