NSA on McNeil aspirin petition
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The National Stroke Association "urges" FDA to approve McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals' citizen petition to amend professional labeling for aspirin to reflect a lower recommended maximum daily dose, in comments submitted May 23. Lowering the recommended daily dose to 75 mg -150 mg for secondary cardiovascular prevention and 50 mg -150 mg for secondary cerebrovascular prevention "is in keeping with [FDA's] Risk Minimization Action Plan and McNeil's long-term goal to minimize the risk to patients," NSA asserts. The risk of GI bleeding "increases monotonically with increasing aspirin doses, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease benefit is no greater at aspirin doses above 150 mg than below 150 mg/day," the association adds. McNeil submitted the petition in January ( 1"The Tan Sheet" May 16, 2005, p. 6)...