Fresh warnings over fluoroquinolones: study

A new study confirms and strengthens the association between fluoroquinolone antibiotics and increased risk of aortic aneurysm, prompting calls to broaden warnings to include all adults, not just high-risk adults.
In December 2018, the US FDA updated its May 2017 safety alert stating that fluoroquinolone antibiotics should not be used in patients at increased risk of aortic disease.
The new study, published in JAMA Surgery, suggests that fluoroquinolones “should be used with caution among individuals aged 35 years or older, regardless of sex or comorbidities,” say Dr Melina Kibbe and colleagues with the University of North Carolina, US.
Theirs was a retrospective analysis of insurance claims from 2005 to 2017 for adults aged 18-64 years.