FDA Probing Possible Link Between Asthma Drug and Suicide Risk

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Experts pointed out that, in the meantime, asthma sufferers need to determine with their doctors whether Singulair is the best choice of treatment for them.

"[Patients need] to define what they're taking it for," said Dr. David Weldon, director of the Allergy and Pulmonary Lab Services at Scott & White in College Station, Texas. "In some instances, patients may be prescribed Singulair by itself for management of their asthma, and the expert panel guidelines recommend inhaled steroids as the drug of choice for management of asthma as the first line. So if they're still having problems with asthma, they should check with their prescribing physician regarding this."

Weldon said that he has not seen any increase in psychiatric problems with the drug, but that some patients had complained of nightmares after starting on Singulair.

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"The physician really needs to review whether there are symptoms that have developed since patients started taking the medication, if there's an underlying depression that was there before medication started," added Dr. Rauno Joks, chief of the division of allergy and immunology at SUNY (State University of New York) Downstate in New York City. "Also, seasonal allergies in and of themselves can cause fatigue and lethargy, which makes it harder to assess, because those are some of the symptoms you have with depression."

Joks said he had seen headaches develop as a side effect of Singulair, but not psychiatric problems.

The drug, a leukotriene receptor antagonist that targets part of the body's inflammatory process, is prescribed to treat asthma and the symptoms of allergic rhinitis, as well as to prevent exercise-induced asthma.

More information

Visit the FDA for more on this emerging issue.

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