Alerts to be issued for ADHD drugs
Drugs prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder will include guides to alert patients and parents of the risks of mental and heart problems, including sudden death.
The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it directed the manufacturers of Ritalin, Adderall, Strattera and all other ADHD drugs to develop the guides.
Draft versions of the guides posted on the FDA Web site include discussion of reports of increased blood pressure and heart rate in ADHD patients, as well as cases of sudden death in some who have heart problems and heart defects. In adult patients, the reported problems also include stroke and heart attack.
The alerts also cover psychiatric problems, such as hearing voices, unfounded suspicions and manic behavior, of which there is a slightly increased risk in patients who take the drugs, the FDA said.
WASHINGTON
Oversight lacking before bus fire
A bus explosion that killed 23 nursing home patients fleeing Hurricane Rita was due in part to flawed government oversight of bus companies, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded Wednesday.
A rear wheel of the bus caught fire in the early morning of Sept. 23, 2005, on a freeway near Dallas. Within minutes the vehicle was engulfed in flames and smoke.
While the safety board ruled that lack of oil in a wheel assembly probably caused the fire, it said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was also responsible because it had done a poor job of making sure bus companies were safe.
The safety board also blamed the bus company, Global Limo Inc., because it didn’t conduct preventive maintenance, require drivers to inspect the vehicles or keep inspection records.
MIAMI
Tiny baby leaves incubator behind
Parents of one of the world’s smallest premature babies got to take her home Wednesday for the first time since she was delivered last fall.
Amillia Sonja Taylor has known only an incubator for a bed at Baptist Children’s Hospital since she was delivered in October after less than 22 weeks in the womb.
“The baby is healthy and thriving and left Baptist Children’s Hospital today after four months in our neonatal intensive care unit,” hospital spokeswoman Liz Latta said.
Amillia, who was just 9 1/2 inches at birth and weighed less than 10 ounces, will still require oxygen at home and a developmental specialist will help track her neurological development.