VA study finds more ALS hospitalizations with edaravone

Reuters Health - 09/10/2020 - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients prescribed edaravone are hospitalized more frequently, a new surveillance study in U.S. military veterans shows. Patients on edaravone had significantly higher rates of all-cause hospitalization, and about 60% discontinued the drug, Dr. Francesca Cunningham of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Hines, Illinois, and colleagues found. Those who were on edaravone for six months or longer were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized for ALS-related causes, the researchers report in JAMA Network Open. "This surveillance evaluation identified that patients using edaravone (mostly with riluzole) had unexpected outcomes, which raises questions about its benefit in Veterans Health Administration patients and underscores the importance of further studies," Dr. Cunningham and her team conclude. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the free-radical scavenger edaravone, an ...

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Posted on 9 October, 202022 October, 2020