The Food and
Drug Administration issued a safety alert in February for Parkinson's disease
patients taking the drug Permax.
The drug could
be related to cardiac valvulopathy -- in which lesions develop on the heart
valves, interfering with proper blood circulation. The condition has been
associated most commonly with the taking the appetite-suppression drugs
fenfluramine and phentermine, commonly called Fen-Phen.
Although conclusive
data pointing to a relationship between Permax and the valvulopathy are
lacking, both the FDA and Eli Lilly -- the manufacturer -- have revised
their warnings related to Permax to reflect the possible side effect. In
a letter, Lilly explained "a small number of individuals have been identified
as developing cardiac valvulopathy involving one or more valves during
Permax therapy."
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