FDA Orders Urgent Warning About Cipro

The FDA today mandated urgent “black box” warning labels on Cipro and other antibiotics of the powerful flouroquinolone family of drugs. The antibiotics carry a risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture, which could leave patients severely disabled, the AP reports. Particularly vulnerable are those over 60 and patients who have undergone heart, lung, or kidney transplants.

"Additional steps are warranted to better manage the risk of tendon rupture," said an FDA official. The labels are being added 6 months after a consumer advocacy group sued the FDA to require the warnings. The agency will also ask manufacturers to create guides that warn patients of the risks associated with Cipro, best known as the first-line treatment for anthrax, and related meds. (More Cipro stories.)