CLARITHROMYCIN SHOULD NOT BE USED IN PREGNANT WOMEN EXCEPT IN CLINICAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE NO ALTERNATIVE THERAPY IS APPROPRIATE. IF PREGNANCY OCCURS WHILE TAKING CLARITHROMYCIN, THE PATIENT SHOULD BE APPRISED OF THE POTENTIAL HAZARD TO THE FETUS (see WARNINGS in the prescribing information for clarithromycin).

Pseudomembranous colitis has been reported with nearly all antibacterial agents, including clarithromycin and amoxicillin, and may range in severity from mild to life threatening. Therefore, it is important to consider this diagnosis in patients who present with diarrhea subsequent to the administration of antibacterial agents.

Treatment with antibacterial agents alters the normal flora of the colon and may permit overgrowth of clostridia. Studies indicate that a toxin produced by Clostridium difficile is a primary cause of "antibiotic-associated colitis."

After the diagnosis of pseudomembranous colitis has been established, therapeutic measures should be initiated. Mild cases of pseudomembranous colitis usually respond to discontinuation of the drug alone. In moderate to severe cases, consideration should be given to management with fluids and electrolytes, protein supplementation, and treatment with an antibacterial drug clinically effective against Clostridium difficile colitis.

There have been post-marketing reports of colchicine toxicity with concomitant use of clarithromycin and colchicine, especially in the elderly, some of which occurred in patients with renal insufficiency. Deaths have been reported in some such patients.

Serious and occasionally fatal hypersensitivity (anaphylactic) reactions have been reported in patients on penicillin therapy. These reactions are more apt to occur in individuals with a history of penicillin hypersensitivity and/or a history of sensitivity to multiple allergens.

There have been well-documented reports of individuals with a history of penicillin hypersensitivity reactions who have experienced severe hypersensitivity reactions when treated with a cephalosporin. Before initiating therapy with any penicillin, careful inquiry should be made concerning previous hypersensitivity reactions to penicillins, cephalosporins, and other allergens. If an allergic reaction occurs, amoxicillin should be discontinued and the appropriate therapy instituted.

SERIOUS ANAPHYLACTIC REACTIONS REQUIRE IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY TREATMENT WITH EPINEPHRINE. OXYGEN, INTRAVENOUS STEROIDS, AND AIRWAY MANAGEMENT, INCLUDING INTUBATION, SHOULD ALSO BE ADMINISTERED AS INDICATED.

For information about warnings of other drugs that may be used in combination with amoxicillin or clarithromycin, refer to the WARNINGS section of their package inserts.

General

Symptomatic response to therapy with lansoprazole does not preclude the presence of gastric malignancy.

For information about precautions of other drugs that may be used in combination with amoxicillin or clarithromycin, refer to the PRECAUTIONS section of their package inserts.

Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility

In two 24-month carcinogenicity studies, Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with oral lansoprazole doses of 5 to 150 mg/kg/day - about 1 to 40 times the exposure on a body surface (mg/m²) basis, of a 50-kg person of average height [1.46 m² body surface area (BSA)] given the recommended human dose of 30 mg/day (22.2 mg/m²). Lansoprazole produced dose-related gastric enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cell hyperplasia and ECL cell carcinoids in both male and female rats. It also increased the incidence of intestinal metaplasia of the gastric epithelium in both sexes. In male rats, lansoprazole produced a dose-related increase of testicular interstitial cell adenomas. The incidence of these adenomas in rats receiving doses of 15 to 150 mg/kg/day (4 to 40 times the recommended human dose based on BSA) exceeded the low background incidence (range = 1.4 to 10%) for this strain of rat. In addition, in a one-year toxicity study, testicular interstitial cell adenoma occurred in 1 of 30 rats treated with 50 mg/kg/day of lansoprazole (13 times the recommended human dose based on BSA).

In a 24-month carcinogenicity study, CD-1 mice were treated with oral lansoprazole doses of 15 to 600 mg/kg/day, 2 to 80 times the recommended human dose based on BSA. Lansoprazole produced a dose-related increased incidence of gastric ECL cell hyperplasia. It also produced an increased incidence of liver tumors (hepatocellular adenoma plus carcinoma). The tumor incidences in male mice treated with 300 and 600 mg/kg/day (40 to 80 times the recommended human dose based on BSA) and female mice treated with 150 to 600 mg/kg/day (20 to 80 times the recommended human dose based on BSA) exceeded the ranges of background incidences in historical controls for this strain of mice. Lansoprazole treatment produced adenoma of rete testis in male mice receiving 75 to 600 mg/kg/day (10 to 80 times the recommended human dose based on BSA).

Lansoprazole was not genotoxic in the Ames test, the ex vivo rat hepatocyte unscheduled DNAa synthesis (UDS) test, the in vivo mouse micronucleus test, or the rat bone marrow cell chromosomal aberration test. It was positive in in vitro human lymphocyte chromosomal aberration assays.

Lansoprazole at oral doses up to 150 mg/kg/day (40 times the recommended human dose based on BSA) was found to have no effect on fertility and reproductive performance of male and female rats.

Pregnancy: Teratogenic Effects.

Pregnancy Category B

Lansoprazole

Teratology studies have been performed in pregnant rats at oral lansoprazole doses up to 150 mg/kg/day (40 times the recommended human dose based on BSA) and pregnant rabbits at oral lansoprazole doses up to 30 mg/kg/day (16 times the recommended human dose based on BSA) and have revealed no evidence of impaired fertility or harm to the fetus due to lansoprazole.

There are, however, no adequate or well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, this drug should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed.

Pregnancy Category C

Clarithromycin

See WARNINGS (above) and full prescribing information for clarithromycin before using in pregnant women.

Nursing Mothers

Lansoprazole or its metabolites are excreted in the milk of rats. It is not known whether lansoprazole is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from lansoprazole, and because of the potential for tumorigenicity shown for lansoprazole in rat carcinogenicity studies, a decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or to discontinue lansoprazole, taking into account the importance of lansoprazole to the mother.

Pediatric Use

The safety and effectiveness of PREVACID have been established in pediatric patients 1 to 17 years of age for short-term treatment of symptomatic GERD and erosive esophagitis. Use of PREVACID in this population is supported by evidence from adequate and well-controlled studies of PREVACID in adults with additional clinical, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic studies performed in pediatric patients. The adverse events profile in pediatric patients is similar to that of adults. There were no adverse events reported in U.S. clinical studies that were not previously observed in adults. The safety and effectiveness of PREVACID in patients less than 1 year of age have not been established.

1 to 11 years of age

In an uncontrolled, open-label, U.S. multicenter study, 66 pediatric patients (1 to 11 years of age) with GERD were assigned, based on body weight, to receive an initial dose of either PREVACID 15 mg daily if ≤ 30 kg or PREVACID 30 mg daily if greater than 30 kg administered for 8 to 12 weeks. The PREVACID dose was increased (up to 30 mg b.i.d.) in 24 of 66 pediatric patients after 2 or more weeks of treatment if they remained symptomatic. At baseline 85% of patients had mild to moderate overall GERD symptoms (assessed by investigator interview), 58% had non-erosive GERD and 42% had erosive esophagitis (assessed by endoscopy).

After 8 to 12 weeks of PREVACID treatment, the intent-to-treat analysis demonstrated an approximate 50% reduction in frequency and severity of GERD symptoms.

Twenty-one of 27 erosive esophagitis patients were healed at 8 weeks and 100% of patients were healed at 12 weeks by endoscopy (Table 17).

Table 17: GERD symptom improvement and Erosive Esophagitis healing rates in pediatric patients age 1 to 11

In a study of 66 pediatric patients in the age group 1 year to 11 years old after treatment with PREVACID given orally in doses of 15 mg daily to 30 mg bid., increases in serum gastrin levels were similar to those observed in adult studies. Median fasting serum gastrin levels increased 89% from 51 pg/ mL at baseline to 97 pg/mL [interquartile range (25th-75th percentile) of 71-130 pg/ mL] at the final visit.

The pediatric safety of PREVACID Delayed-Release Capsules has been assessed in 66 pediatric patients aged 1 to 11 years of age. Of the 66 patients with GERD 85% (56/66) took PREVACID for 8 weeks and 15% (10/66) took it for 12 weeks.

The most frequently reported (2 or more patients) treatment-related adverse events in patients 1 to 11 years of age (N=66) were constipation (5%) and headache (3%).

12 to 17 years of age

In an uncontrolled, open-label, U.S. multicenter study, 87 adolescent patients (12 to 17 years of age) with symptomatic GERD were treated with PREVACID for 8 to 12 weeks. Baseline upper endoscopies classified these patients into two groups: 64 (74%) nonerosive GERD and 23 (26%) erosive esophagitis (EE). The nonerosive GERD patients received PREVACID 15 mg daily for 8 weeks and the EE patients received PREVACID 30 mg daily for 8 to 12 weeks. At baseline, 89% of these patients had mild to moderate overall GERD symptoms (assessed by investigator interviews). During 8 weeks of PREVACID treatment, adolescent patients experienced a 63% reduction in frequency and a 69% reduction in severity of GERD symptoms based on diary results.

Twenty-one of 22 (95.5%) adolescent erosive esophagitis patients were healed after 8 weeks of PREVACID treatment. One patient remained unhealed after 12 weeks of treatment (Table 18).

Table 18: GERD symptom improvement and Erosive Esophagitis healing rates in pediatric patients age 12 to 17

In these 87 adolescent patients, increases in serum gastrin levels were similar to those observed in adult studies, median fasting serum gastrin levels increased 42% from 45 pg/mL at baseline to 64 pg/mL [interquartile range (25th – 75th percentile) of 44 – 88 pg/mL] at the final visit. (Normal serum gastrin levels are 25 to 111 pg/mL.)

THE SAFETY OF PREVACID DELAYED-RELEASE CAPSULES HAS BEEN ASSESSED IN THESE 87 ADOLESCENT PATIENTS. OF THE 87 ADOLESCENT PATIENTS WITH GERD, 6% (5/87) TOOK PREVACID FOR LESS THAN 6 WEEKS, 93% (81/87) FOR 6-10 WEEKS, AND 1% (1/87) FOR GREATER THAN 10 WEEKS.

The most frequently reported (at least 3%) treatment-related adverse events in these patients were headache (7%), abdominal pain (5%), nausea (3%) and dizziness (3%). Treatment-related dizziness, reported in this package insert as occurring in less than 1% of adult patients, was reported in this study by 3 adolescent patients with nonerosive GERD, who had dizziness concurrently with other events (such as migraine, dyspnea, and vomiting).

Use in Women

Over 4,000 women were treated with PREVACID. Ulcer healing rates in females were similar to those in males. The incidence rates of adverse events in females were similar to those seen in males.

Use in Geriatric Patients

The incidence rates of PREVACID-associated adverse events and laboratory test abnormalities are similar to those seen in younger patients. For geriatric patients, dosage and administration of PREVACID need not be altered.

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