FDA posts drug-safety watch list

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has established a drug-safety watch list that will be posted quarterly on its Web site.

The agency said the list of drugs being evaluated for potential safety issues will be based on reports in its Adverse Event Reporting System.

"The appearance of a drug on this list does not mean that FDA has concluded that the drug has the listed risk, or that FDA has identified a causal relationship between the drug and the listed risk," the agency said Friday in a release. "It is on the list only because FDA has identified a potential safety issue."

Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said patients should not stop taking a drug just because it appears on the list.

"My message to patients is this: Don't stop taking your medicine. If your doctor has prescribed a drug that appears on this list, you should continue taking it unless your doctor advises you differently," Woodcock said in a statement.