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Lambert has drug reaction
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December 1, 1997: 1:44 p.m. ET
Warner-Lambert shares sink on news diabetes drug may damage liver
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Warner-Lambert shares were hit hard after its Parke-Davis unit told physicians to monitor diabetes patients who take the treatment drug Rezulin more closely after some patients experienced liver problems.
Parke-Davis said Monday it had received about 150 reports of liver dysfunction potentially associated with Rezulin.
That figure includes three deaths from liver failure linked to the use of the drug in Japan, where it is marketed by a different company.
Despite the problems, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the benefits of Rezulin far outweigh the risks for diabetes sufferers.
Parke-Davis has been marketing Rezulin, a drug used to manage the levels of glucose in the blood, only since March of this year.
News of the problems sank Warner-Lambert shares. Its stock (WLA) plunged 25-1/4 to 114-5/8 in late morning trading.
In accordance with recommendations from the FDA, the company said it will alert 400,000 health care professionals about the changes, which include more frequent monitoring of patients taking Rezulin.
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy.
Rezulin is used to treat Type 2 diabetes, the most common type of the disease.
About 625,000 people each year are diagnosed with diabetes. Parke-Davis said about 600,000 patients have taken the drug in the United States and 200,000 more overseas.
The Japanese innovator and marketer of the drug, Sankyo, said Monday it will modify the prescription information to make it similar to Parke-Davis' changes.
Glaxo Wellcome, another pharmaceutical company, took the more drastic step of suspending its marketing of the drug while it is being reviewed.
-- by staff writer Randy Schultz
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