Rhabdomyolysis
Rhabdomyolysis was the fatal Baycol
side effect that was responsible for the eventual recall
of the statin drug in August 2001. Defined as a disorder involving
injury to the kidney caused by toxic effects of the contents
of muscle cells, rhabdomyolysis can become fatal. Rhabdomyolysis
is a very rare side effect of prescription drugs but had been
associated to statin use. Baycol was the first statin directly
linked to death because of rhabdomyolysis.
When the muscle is damaged from rhabdomyolysis, it releases
pigments from the muscle and blood into the bloodstream. The
kidney then filters the pigments out of the blood and it accumulates
in the kidney and blocks up the filtering portion of the kidney,
causing kidney failure. At the time of the Baycol
recall, there had been 32 FDA reports of Baycol deaths
attributed to severe rhabdomyolysis in the U.S. in addition
to 20 Baycol deaths outside of the U.S. Presently, there have
been over one hundred deaths due to rhabdomyolysis and Baycol
use, but Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the Public Citizen consumer group
thinks that hundreds of Baycol patients have suffered from
rhabdomyolysis attacks. Only about a fraction of the actual
drug adverse effects are likely reported.
Rhabdomyolysis pain as a result of Baycol use can occur in
specific muscles or more generalized, but most often rhabdomyolysis
pain occurs in the calves and lower back. Rhabdomyolysis was
often mistaken for symptoms of the flu, further postponing
proper treatment and allowing the potentially deadly condition
to progress into more advanced stages. Rhabdomyolysis is diagnosed
through a blood test to measure the creating kinase levels.
An elevated level of creatine kinase in the blood indicates
skeletal muscle necrosis, and when myoglobin is found in the
urine, rhabdomyolysis and kidney failure may be present.
Severe rhabdomyolysis symptoms may include:
- Muscle pain
- Weakness
- Malaise
- Fever
- Dark Urine
- Nausea
- Vomiting
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