Zyvox use shows increased mortality

Results of a clinical trial comparing linezolid (Zyvox, Pfizer) with vancomycin, oxacillin, or dicloxacillin show that patients treated with linezolid had a higher mortality rate compared with patients treated with other antibiotics. The chance of death was higher in patients infected with gram-negative organisms or a mix of gram-negative and gram-positive organisms, or in those patients who had no infection when they entered the study. Patients were being treated for intravascular catheter-related bloodstream infections, including catheter-site infections. Patients treated for gram-positive infections showed no increase in mortality. The FDA reminds practitioners that linezolid is not approved for the treatment of gram-negative catheter-related infections.

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