Posted by musico on November 23, 2005, at 15:23:21
Attention all sleuths. I'm switching from Zyprexa -gained 15 lbs in 6 weeks ugh! - to Ziprasidone for it's apparent weight neutral quality. Despite having the suggested EKG test beforehand (normal along with normal blood work) I'm now paranoid about the QT prolongation factor with respect to SUDDEN DEATH ugh ugh!
Pzifer's black box warning is confusing to me with it's claim that "although tosade de pointes has not been observed in association with the use of ziprasidone at recommended doses in premarketing studies, experience is too limited to rule out an increased risk"...then reading on I find ... "as with other antipsychotic drugs and placebo, sudden unexplained deaths have been reported in patients taking ziprasidone at recommended doses." !!?!! Then it goes on to say that the "premarketing experience for ziprasidone did not reveal an excess risk of mortality for ziprasidone compared to other antipsychotic drugs or placebo, but the extent of exposure was limited, especially for the drugs used as active controls and placebo. NEVERTHELESS, ziprasidone's larger prolongation of QTc length compared to several other antipsychotic drugs raises the possibility that the risk of SUDDEN DEATH may be greater for ziprasidone than for other available drugs..."
So I get the risk factor, but I still wonder why there were sudden UNEXPLAINED deaths...has anyone unearthed more detail on these poor souls? Did they have any pre-existing ailments, how old were they, etc. Or should I call Pzifer?
poster:musico
thread:581619
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051119/msgs/581619.html