Preliminary data showed that Serevent users risked significant increase in asthma-related deaths

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(Some one is surely hiding the final results from this study! how can we find it?)____________________FDA wants stronger warnings on popular asthma medicineBy Sabine VollmerUpdated: November 18, 2006 « Previous | 1 | 2 Print Article Email Article RSS / http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm/2/cmi_1597636/cid_5 Available since 2001, Advair contains a steroid to reduce inflammation and a beta-agonist called salmeterol. Salmeterol also is the active ingredient in Serevent, which has been on the market since 1994. In 2003, after enrolling 26,000 patients, GSK stopped a Serevent study early. Preliminary data showed that Serevent users risked a small but significant increase in asthma-related deaths, compared to patients receiving a dummy drug. African-Americans were particularly vulnerable, but the study was not designed to explain why. Final results of the study have never been published, and GSK has said that stopping the study was unrelated to safety issues. Shortly after the FDA announced the risks from the preliminary Serevent data in 2003, the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen put Serevent on its list of worst drugs. After Vioxx raised questions about drug safety last year, an FDA official in testimony to Congress listed Serevent as one of five drugs he considered dangerous.