Latuda Side Effects: Anti-Schizophrenic Drug. Those of you looking for an anti-schizophrenic drug might want to check out Latuda (lurasidone HCl), a tablet manufactured by Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc which was just approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Just like any drug out there in the market, Latuda can cause adverse reactions among patients.
According to the FDA, those who took part in a clinical trial for this drug reported the following side effects: drowsiness, feelings of restlessness and the urge to move (akathisia), nausea, movement abnormalities such as tremors, slow movement, or muscle stiffness (Parkinsonism), and agitation.
Here’s the full FDA media release:
FDA approves Latuda to treat schizophrenia in adults
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Latuda (lurasidone HCl) tablets for the treatment of adults with schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia affects about 1 percent of the U.S. population, ages 18 years and older, in a given year. The most prominent symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking and behavior, and suspiciousness.
Hearing voices that other people don’t hear is the most common type of hallucination. These experiences can make people with the disorder fearful and withdrawn.
“Schizophrenia can be a devastating illness requiring lifelong treatment,” said Thomas Laughren, M.D., director of the Division of Psychiatry Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Some patients do not respond well to certain types of drug therapy, so it is important to have multiple treatment options available.”
Latuda is included in the atypical antipsychotic class of drugs. All atypical antipsychotics contain a boxed warning alerting prescribers to an increased risk of death associated with off-label use of these drugs to treat behavioral problems in older people with dementia-related psychosis.
No drug in this class is approved to treat patients with dementia-related psychosis.
Four six-week controlled studies of adults with schizophrenia demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of Latuda. In the trials, patients treated with Latuda had fewer symptoms of schizophrenia than those taking an inactive pill (placebo).
The most common adverse reactions reported by those in clinical trials were drowsiness, feelings of restlessness and the urge to move (akathisia), nausea, movement abnormalities such as tremors, slow movement, or muscle stiffness (Parkinsonism), and agitation.
Latuda is manufactured by Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Fort Lee, N.J.
*****
You can contact the FDA at 888-INFO-FDA if you have more questions about the drug.
For our other mental health entries, you might want to read about Pfizer’s anti-depressant drug Reboxitene which, according to a British journal, is ineffective and potentially harmful.
Latuda Side Effects: Anti-Schizophrenic Drug. Posted 28 October 2010.