MPH alumni Harris and Talbot: Records point to drug-drug interaction
Daptomycin is an antibiotic used to treat serious bacterial infections. Statins are drugs prescribed on a long-term basis to prevent or reduce cardiovascular disease by lowering LDL-cholesterol.
In a retrospective study, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center found that VUMC patients who continued taking a statin while taking daptomycin had 2.6 times greater risk of developing myopathy (muscle weakness) and 4.67 times greater risk of a more severe form of muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis.
Dare is a former infectious diseases fellow at VUMC who has since joined the faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He was joined in the study by Chad Tewell, MD, Bryan Harris, MD, MPH, Patty Wright, MD, Sara Van Driest, MD, PhD, Eric Farber-Eger, George Nelson, MD, and Thomas Talbot, MD, MPH. The study was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (TR000445).