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 edetate disodium |
| Endrate |
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NEW WARNING
The FDA has issued a public health warning about safety issues concerning edetate disodium (Endrate and others), a drug used to treat hypercalcemia. Several deaths have been reported in children and adults who were given edetate disodium instead of edetate calcium disodium (a drug used to lower dangerously high lead levels) or when edetate disodium was used as an unapproved chelate. In the time since edetate disodium was approved many years ago, several new drugs to treat emergency hypercalcemia have been introduced. Because of this, the CDC and FDA are recommending that hospitals review their need to have edetate disodium stocked in their pharmacies. The risk of a potentially fatal medication mix-up error should be considered when weighing the need for the drug. Edetate disodium should only be used for approved uses. It’s also recommended that prescribers use the full product name, not just abbreviations, when ordering either drug and that the indication for the product should be included on the prescription, to help lessen the possibility of errors.
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