How Do TB Drugs Interact With HIV Drugs?

How do TB drugs interact with HIV drugs? – In January, 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued new guidelines on dosing of an HIV medication used to treat people infected with both HIV and tuberculosis (TB) because of a potential interaction between two of the main drugs used to treat each disease. The drug rifampin, used for treating TB, can lower levels of the HIV medicine efavirenz, so the FDA recommended that patients who weigh more than 50 kg (110 pounds) and who are taking both medications should get 30 percent larger doses of efavirenz (an increase from 600 mg to 800 mg). Now, a new analysis by conducted by researchers with the Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH) suggests this recommended dose adjustment may not be necessary, particularly in non-Caucasian populations. As described in a talk at the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC on Monday, July 23, 2012, the new FDA guidelines were based on several small studies in European TB patients and one in healthy volunteers, indicating a decrease in efavirenz levels with rifampin. The guidelines were also informed by a mathematical model, which showed that increasing efavirenz to 800 mg when given with rifampin would increase levels to those seen on the regular dose of 600 mg. These data may not apply to patients in African and Asian populations because of genetic differences that lead to higher efavirenz levels …

Meet the Plaintiffs of ASA v DEA

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Tomorrow morning, the United States Court of Appeals in Washington DC will hear oral arguments in the landmark case, Americans for Safe Access v Drug Enforcement Administration. The case argues that the Drug Enforcement Administration acted …
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Marijuana's Recreational, Medical Use on Ballots in Six States

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Marijuana advocates have placed measures on ballots in six states dealing with the recreational or medical use of the drug, defying federal efforts to crack down on use where it's already legal. … “There would be some signal there to Washington, D.C …
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