Asthma Drug, Serevent, Causing Deaths

On January 23, 2003, the FDA's Adverse Events Reporting Program, known as MedWatch, reported that GlaxoSmithKline's asthma drug, Serevent, was found to be associated with potentially serious, respiratory adverse events, including deaths. Serevent (salmeterol xinafoate) is a long-acting Beta-2-Agonist (stimulant) for the management of asthma. The FDA requested safety analysis of Serevent has prompted further review of the potential association between Serevent and the rare, but potentially fatal averse effects, which occurred in asthma patients treated with 42 mcg of Serevent twice daily in the 28-week study.