According to this Seattle, WA case, Andy Johnson is 35 years old, suffered liver damage when he took Ketek. Andy said, "My doctor prescribed Ketek for a sinus infection that was not responsive to other antibiotics and Ketek seemed to be the hot new drug at the time; this was around December 2005 and the Sanofi Aventis sales reps were aggressively pushing this product - I know because I work in the health community. I took it for about two weeks until I heard some disturbing news. After reading headline news from MSNBC online about liver damage caused by Ketek, I went to the ear, nose and throat (ENT) clinic and asked for a liver function test... Within a few days the lab results came back and my doctor called: my liver enzyme count was off the rails! I was shocked. My doctor told me to immediately stop taking Ketek. In fact the entire clinic erred on the side of caution and no other patient was prescribed this drug. After the first round of results came back, under the direction of my physician, I had bi-weekly tests to make sure enzyme levels went back to normal once Ketek was out of my system. Each set of results showed my enzyme levels almost cut in half - that was a good thing. If I continued taking this drug my liver would have suffered irreparable damage. My doctor concurs. There must be a lot of people out there taking Ketek and not having their enzyme levels checked. Most alarming to me was that I had to bring it to the attention of this large ENT group. Subsequently they are no longer prescribing ketek to anyone, much to the chagrin of the Ketek representative. One reason I wish to remain anonymous is because my doctor told me the Sanofi Aventis sales rep blew a stack when they stopped prescribing Ketek at the clinic. It is a very large ear, nose and throat group so her sales must have taken a dive. Apparently she was pretty rattled - I don't want her to know me."If something like this has happened to you, report this to the FDA< contact your doctor, and consider conacting a lawyer.
