Wednesday, September 21, 2011

God, I hate the internet, and yet, I can't tear myself away from it.

Here's what it says on the Eli Lilly website (the makers of Humatrope/somatropin):

There have been reports of sleep apnea and fatalities after initiating therapy with somatropin in pediatric patients with Prader-Willi syndrome who had one or more of the following risk factors:
-severe obesity,
-history of upper airway obstruction or sleep apnea, or
-unidentified respiratory infection.
Male patients with one or more of these factors may be at greater risk than females.

Patients with PWS should be evaluated for signs of upper airway obstruction and sleep apnea before initiation of treatment with somatropin. If during treatment with somatropin, patients show signs of upper airway obstruction (including onset of or increased snoring) and/or new onset of sleep apnea, treatment should be interrupted. All patients with PWS treated with somatropin should also have effective weight control and be monitored for signs of respiratory infection, which should be diagnosed as early as possible and treated aggressively.
Unless patients with PWS also have a diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency, HUMATROPE is not indicated for the long-term treatment of pediatric patients who have growth failure due to genetically confirmed PWS.

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