An advisory panel has “recommended Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration effectively ban, for patients with severe kidney disease, the use of two drugs used to create high-contrast images on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.” ProPublica’s Jeff Gerth has been reporting on the issue for some time and offers some valuable background on the topic.
The drugs in question are GE’s Omniscan and Covidien’s Optimark. Bayer’s Magnevist, the category’s market leader, escaped the most serious censure, but all three agents have been linked to nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, a rare but very serious disease.
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