EMEA issues Remicade warning
Doctors treating Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis with Remicade must ensure that their patients do not have tuberculosis, (including latent TB), or other severe infections, including sepsis, abscesses or 'opportunistic infections', the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA) has said. It has warned that until mid-2001, 202 Remicade patients died after developing serious infections; also 130 cases of active TB have been reported, some fatal. Said EMEA: 'Before starting treatment with Remicade, all patients must be evaluated for both active and inactive tuberculosis.' It added that the drug should 'only be administered under the supervision of specialised physicians experienced in rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel diseases'.