Pharmacovigilance Initiative

June 2017 – Drug interactions between antiretroviral drugs and other medications can result in loss of therapeutic efficacy or drug toxicity. Selected proton pump inhibitors and inhaled corticosteroids recently became available as non-prescription products in BC. These, and other non-prescription medications, can have clinically important interactions with certain antiretroviral drugs. This bulletin summarizes clinically important

September 17, 2012 – The Pharmacovigilance Program at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS has received reports of patients seeing nevirapine 400 mg XR (extended release) tablets or tablet fragments in their feces (stools). In BC, approximately 4% of patients treated with nevirapine XR have reported seeing tablet remnants in their stool. Nevirapine 400

June 6, 2011 – The Pharmacovigilance Program at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS has reviewed the following incident: On May 11, 2011, Janssen Inc. issued an advisory that some bottles of darunavir (Prezista TM) 600 mg tablets in Lot # ALZ0J00 might have an uncharacteristic “musty” or “mouldy” odour caused by trace quantities

June, 2010 – The Pharmacovigilance Program at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS has received four reports of suspected drug interaction between ritonavir and triamcinolone acetonide intra-articular injection leading to symptoms of corticosteroid excess (Cushingoid features) and adrenal suppression. The affected patients were HIV-infected adults whose antiretroviral therapy included a protease inhibitor boosted with

July, 2009 – The Pharmacovigilance Initiative at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS received a report of an HLA-B*5701 positive patient who had tolerated long term abacavir therapy, discontinued antiretroviral drugs for several months, then developed a diffuse rash, respiratory distress and fever shortly after re-initiating an abacavir-containing regimen. The symptoms and rapid onset were