ProHeart 6 provoca mortes - Não sei se existe em Portugal, mas achei que devia avisar

[Guida__F]

ProHeart 6 é um medicamento injectável contra os vermes do coração, que é aplicado de seis em seis meses.

Se por acaso alguém aqui o utilizar, deverá ler atentamente esta reportagem.

http://news4colorado.com/topstories/loc ... 60639.html


"News 4 Investigates: Dog Heartworm Medication Under Microscope

Jul 8, 2004 8:06 pm US/Mountain
WINDSOR, Colo. (News 4) A drug approved to protect your dog is now under the microscope.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating the drug ProHeart 6 because of the number of adverse reactions and deaths reported by veterinarians and dog owners. ProHeart 6 is an injectable medication that's supposed to protect against heartworm and kill parasites.

Veterinarians who offer ProHeart 6 treatments inject dogs every six months to prevent heartworms as part of the procedure. It's more convenient than monthly pills, but now thousands of pet owners are questioning its safety.

Veterinarian Robin Downing says she has one priority. "My job is to advocate on behalf of beings who cannot advocate for themselves," she said.

That's why Downing is now advocating that pet owners who come to her clinic in Windsor stop using ProHeart 6.

"We had several events that we thought were related to an adverse reaction to ProHeart 6," Downing said.

A Jack Russell terrier named Oscar is one of the animals Downing said suffered after receiving ProHeart 6.

Oscar's owners, Ryan and Megan Boothe, said Oscar started having daily seizures after getting the heartworm medication. Ryan Boothe said their dog would lay there for hours and hours and not even move, and his chest would be heaving.

Downing said Oscar is just one example.

Jean Brudd said all three of her dogs -- Nicki, Tasha and Casey -- all got shots of ProHeart 6 at a different clinic. Two died and one remains on medication.

"I didn't want to think the shot was responsible," Brudd said.

Nicki and Tasha died just months after getting shots to prevent heartworm. There has been no direct link found between their deaths and ProHeart 6, though. Brudd keeps their ashes by her bed and thinks about them constantly.

"I'm the only one who didn't have a shot in the household, and I'm the one who's not in a wooden box or on medication," Brudd said.

Downing said she saw enough problems with ProHeart 6 that she pulled the drug off her shelves. "Does ProHeart 6 really deserve a place in my practice from the perspective I have as a primary care provider? And our answer was, 'I don't think so.'"

More than 5,000 veterinarians and dog owners have filed complaints about ProHeart 6 with the FDA. Nearly 500 dogs have died after receiving an injection.

Since the drug became available two years ago, the FDA has required its maker to add safety information to the label.

The government also required ProHeart's manufacturer, Fort Dodge Animal Health, to write two letters to veterinarians alerting them of the label changes, which include warnings about the possibility of severe adverse reactions and in rare cases, death.

Fort Dodge maintains its drug is safe and that the number of adverse events reported to the FDA represents a fraction of total doses sold.

"It's a very low reaction rate in terms of millions and millions of doses that have gone into protect dogs against heartworm," Fort Dodge spokesperson Dr. Rami Cobb said. "We take every complaint very seriously. We investigate every individual animal with their veterinarian."

Cobb maintains that the number of doses given continues to rise as the number of adverse events reported falls, but many dog owners say they are steering clear of ProHeart 6.

"I'd have to be 6 feet under," Brudd said. "I would never use ProHeart 6 again."

In April, the manufacturer of the drug issued a recall for countless vials of ProHeart 6 because the drug did not meet FDA specifications.

The FDA says it will continue to investigate ProHeart 6.

News 4 Video:

Watch Brian Maass' Investigates Report

Additional Resources:


If you want more information from the FDA or you want to file an adverse event report, visit a special section of the FDA Web site or call the Center for Veterinary Medicine at (888) FDA-VETS.


Fort Dodge Animal Health ProHeart 6 Web site


The Pet Guardian


ESPN Outdoors article: A look at preventing heartworms"