Alzheimer's Blogging:

Aricept 23mg: Too Much of a Good Thing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A drug used to treat moderate or severe cases of Alzheimer’s disease should be removed from the market immediately because of its risk of serious adverse effects and its lack of effectiveness, Public Citizen and an eminent geriatrician from Johns Hopkins said in a petition filed today with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
http://www.citizen.org/petition-to-fda-to-ban-23-mg-dose-of-donepezil-aricept-2011

Donepezil, also known as Aricept, has been approved by the FDA in a dose of 5 to 10 milligrams (mg) for patients with mild to moderate cases of Alzheimer’s disease and in a dose of 10 or 23 mg for patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s. Public Citizen is calling for the 23-mg dose to be immediately pulled from the market.

“Data show that the 23-mg dose of donepezil is significantly more toxic than the 10-mg dose,” said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group. “Combined with its lack of improved clinical benefits, this leads to only one conclusion: that the 23-mg dose should be immediately withdrawn from the market.”

Check out this article and video: http://alzheimersweekly.com/content/aricept-23mg-too-much-good-thing

Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint of James A Rock Pub., Co.
http://www.mariefostino.com/
http://www.mariefostino.blogspot.com/