Singulair and merck

Hey to All.
I know that the ALA study got everyone upset and I am happy we all emailed her.We all pretty much got the same response from Heather,defending the study and the integrity of the results.If only this investigation would conclude!
The Merck company contacted our Senator and indicated there was a conclusion and then ,they never got back to her before the weekend.I will have news early in the week.Please everyone just keep on voicing your concerns by reaching out any way you can.Sometimes it seems unbearable and I have to take a break with the communications on this website but,I continue my communication with my local contacts and the FDA.
I would love quick results and everyone would love this to get the publicity this story deserves but,if you look at how far we have come getting attention focused on this drug it is amazing.
This website has been here for years and people have complained and nothing has been accomplished until now.Our system is so broken it will take time to fix it.Drugs get approved everyday and when they are put out for multi use,the population benefit -risk ratio changes and there is little oversight on this matter.
The problem is much bigger than just notification of updated side effects,which indeed is why our son died from this drug.It is reporting adverse events to the FDA and the drug company and following up on your report.We can only fight within the system of the government that is in place at the moment and push for change to take place in there programs.
This is what has take place as of this year,The FDA's new 'Safe Use "iniative(which when it gets further developed will increase our partnerships with physicians as well as patients) and the July 2008 AAM report" Education in Safe and Effective Prescribing Practices" which aims to address the education of the next generation of physicians on how to best use medicines.This may help in notification practices and over prescribing but, we want the drug companies to lose the unprecedented control over the clinical research and and evaluation of there own drugs.What other company in the USA, gets to self regulate.Change will come ,we have asked for accountability by having a signature exchange when new and updated side effects are found.Full disclosure of all reported adverse events to doctors from the company representatives,with signature required upon full understanding of the benefit -risk ratio change. A prescriber should know all the good and the bad about a medicine they have chosen to dispense,if not then they should not be able to dispense it.If we were not knowledgeable about selling mushrooms and we sold the poisonous ones ,because we did not take the time it would take to educate ourselves about them,would we not be legally responsible for our actions.
Accountability is what we are asking for and maybe the candyland doctor prescribing practices would stop.They seem to ,not have a responsibility to their patients and the company has no responsibility to the prescribers,so who is responsible for our safety?
I will keep fighting for real change and all you people must do the same ,make an appointment with your representatives and have them contact our Congress representative of NY,maybe with enough onboard we can get the legislation we need to put a law in place for proper notification practices.Kirsten E. Gillibrand Member of the US House of Representatives 120 Cannon House Office Builing Washington, D.C. 20515
This is how change is made ,if you want to help please go forward and do this and don't stop until they listen.I am always willing to do whatever I can,it is physically exhausting and sometimes I just have to step away but, my daily review of this site has not stopped and my fight will continue.Dave and I sit here and our hearts just break for all but, we need people to push their Representatives they do work for the people just remind them of that.Any one with questions or that wants to communicate via private email just ask for my email address or phone number or leave me yours and a time and I will be sure to contact you,Kate M.

Just read an FDA article out today, I believe. The FDA is looking to publish quarterly a list of "potential problem drugs". That is fantastic! But where will this information be posted, and how often should a medical prescriber visit and hunt for such information?

I still maintain every medical professional with the appropriate credentials to prescribe any medication should be required to register with an email address with a database within the FDA to immediately communicate this new-found quarterly list, as well as any investigations launched (as with Merck/Singulair). Wow - what a concept.

I suppose I should be somewhat more optimistic with a slight move in the right direction - but I know with all my heart neither my daughter's pediatrician, nor my personal intern will receive, nor be aware, of any of the quarterly "lists".

Will keep trying to get a change within the FDA.

Welcome a board singulairsurvivor. I received back an email from the woman at the lung association,she was of course sorry for our experiancr,and went on to say the scientist that reviewed the data were some of the best,and the association has no ties to any product.then as i am watching the updates on the hurricanes,i am inendated with singulair commercials as once again it is allergy season,so what a windfall for Merck that this article came out this month and not next....Coincidense i think not shame shame shame on you.To all those unsuspecting people about to get their prescription .i am sorry

This article was published by the Wall Street Journal some time ago...but the point being if clinical studies of Mercks were questionable for want of a better word ..cheating..why would you go back to review old studies ...as surely now they are all suspect...............................................This week’s JAMA lands with one article that says some published studies of the drug were actually written by uncredited ghostwriters hired by the company, and a second piece arguing that Merck didn’t appropriately report mortality data from two studies of Vioxx in Alzheimer’s patients................................................

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. researchers found no evidence to support regulatory warnings that Merck & Co.'s Singulair asthma and allergy drug, taken by millions of Americans over the past decade, may be linked to depression or suicide.

The findings will be published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the American Lung Association said in a statement on PRNewswire today. The study was sponsored by the association, which doesn't endorse products, it said.
HOLY COW

Please add me to the list of people with an extremely adverse reaction to Singulair. I had been taking 10 mg Singulair since 2005 after sinus surgery In June 2008 after returning from vacation I didn't get my prescription refilled in a timely manner and went without it for ~one week. In July I got a new prescription filled for Singulair and also began taking Advair Diskus 250/50 and AllegraD after an increase in asthma symptoms. I first thought the anxiety attacks were from the AllegraD as the "D" is for decongestant and contains psuedo-epinipherine. But the anxiousness continued and got worse after stopping the AllegraD. I then stopped taking the Advair (and also a nasal spray that I use called Flonase also since 2005) but was still in a major depressive episode with daily thoughts of suicide. It wasn't until I stopped taking the Singulair on August 23 that I started to return to normal. My normal does include a history of depression for which I take 10mg Paxil daily. Like the post from the psychiatrists wife noted, I am not sure if there is a direct scientific connection between these events. I do know that I never want to go back to that place I was in. I am shocked at the speed with witch I started to feel good after stopping the Singulair. I still have low grade sad feelings but I have stopped planning my own death. I always took my dose of Singulair in the morning and ~one hour later would begin to feel anxious. My evenings were tolerable with emotions slightly better. I simply stopped taking the medication without tapering and I am beginning to deal with what happened to me. Thank you all for sharing. Thank you.

SINGULAIR AND ZYRTEC SAME MEDICATION made by different companies. Be careful!

I have been reading all of these posts and have another question. I hope that someone can help. My daughter, 8 years old, has been on Singulair since she was 4. She is normally a very happy girl with a wonderful disposition. For the last year or so, she has been having trouble getting herself to sleep at night. She says that she hears things in her head such as ringing or "noises". A few hours before she knows it's bedtime, she cries and when we ask her why she's crying, she can't give us a reason. We initially thought that she was crying for no reason because she didn't want to go to sleep. I remember reading about the side effects of Singulair causing mood swings, etc., but her's are not violent mood swings. Just very emotional and has a hard time coming down from the "episode". I'm at a loss...I have not talked to her doctor yet about it, but have told her that we will make an appointment this week to discuss it with him. My husband suggested that maybe it sounded like she was having a panic attack or anxiety attack. I hate to label her as that at such a young age. My mind now goes back to the side effects of Singulair and maybe this is to blame. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Concerned Mom

My son became soo aggressive 3 days after starting Singulair, that he was almost banned from soccer for life because of attacking another player on the field. It resembled what I had heard of 'roid rage'. When I questioned the doctor immediately, was told there was no connection. After months of the aggression, then came depression and self mutilation. My 15 yr old was secretly burning himself to 'punish' himself for things he done wrong or "disappointing" those around him. He now has permanent scars all over his arms from these burns. The depression took to drug abuse and my A student fell to an F student in 6 weeks. He completely lost his will to live and thrive. After 4 months of hell, the dr informed us that the FDA just warned physicians of this side effect. Im furious now that I read through the court documents and find that the drug company knew this all along. I know I am a luckier parent than some whose children committed suicide, but still wish that the FDA would get off their BUTTS and do something to take this drug off the market. I was told by a rep at the FDA that Merck will not take it off the shelf until they're made to because even if they had to pay parents millions for their child's suicide, they would still be pocketing more profit than our children's lives are worth in the court system. Not sure WHY we even HAVE an FDA, they won't do anything to protect us from these money hungry drug companies. A YEAR to do an 'INVESTIGATION" are you kidding me? If the CEO of Merck had to bury his child, it would come off the shelf THAT DAY.

What is so frustrating here as we read more and more new posts of what we know to be the devasting effects of this drug,is that the label has been updated voluntarily by Merck 4 times this tear to include these side effects,leading you to believe they know the possibility of this happening,and yet doctors continue to dismiss this,making us feel like our parenting skills are less than pristine or our children have some kind of psych label as kids that are well just not normal,when the evidence is there even by Mercks own admission.What in heavens name will it take to get the medical community to understand,they continue to pass it out like candy,and then when you speak of an adverse effect they blame it on something else, Wake up our children our being poisoned in huge numbers

hi everyone my name is Katie, and my son has been on Sindulair for over 6 months now. I took him off 2 nights ago, the day I found this sight. I just cant believe how many families this medication has hurt. When my son was put on, I was never told anything about anything like this happening. I thought his behavior was due to the divorce and child custody things in his life that were going on. It did not cross my mind that it could ever be this medication. He does not take anything else at all.
Some of the things we have been dealing with are, panic attacks at night, bad dreams, aggressiveness, depression, anxiety! Fits that you would not believe. Crying all the time, very emotional. And the newest one, thinking everyone he loves is going to get killed. These are not things a 6 just turned 7 year old should be going through.
I got to thinking that I needed to get him some professional help, this is not normal! I decided to look up Singulair on the net, I did not find anything. I looked up Childrens depression, and angziat, still nothing fit. Then I found this site. Wow did it blow my mind. It fit and it felt right, if you are a mom, I think you know where I am coming from. When you know you just know! So I got him off the medication, and already I am seeing changes. The first night was not grate but better than it has been in a long time, the next day though, he woke up and smiled at me for the first time in way to long, he only had 2 meltdowns that day, when he was having at lest 2 in an hr before. So far so good, I just hope that It keeps going well for him.
Thank you for letting me tell my story!

Sales of Merck's asthma and allergy drug Singulair dropped 1% to $1.1 billion for the second quarter. U.S. sales have been hurt by the recent introduction of an over-the-counter version of rival drug Zyrtec by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), as well as concerns about the Food and Drug Administration's March alert of a possible association between Singulair and suicide and related behavioral side effects Got this off cnn money,i don't know but thought zyrtec and singulair were different drugs,my son at one time was prescribed both to take at bedtime

My son has been taking Singular as well as Advair and Zyrtec and Nasonix for the past 6 months. He is doing so well. He has not had to go to emergency, he has not been sick, and he has not had mood swings. If you look at the prescription information that comes with Singular, you can see what the side effects can be. My recommendation is to take your child off of them if they have a side effect. I contacted my Dr. and Merck is studying only 1 case with a child that had side effects, but they did not say if this child was on other Psych medicine at the same time. The 2 psych meds that have shown a bad interaction with Singular are Phenobarbital and Rifanpin (spelling may be wrong). With all the posts I have read, very few people indicate if they are taking other medications at the same time as Singular. My suggestion is that you consult your Dr. and then send your case to Merck for more studies. If all you are doing is posting on the web, you are not solving this issue with the makers of the medication.

Dear Friends,

Just want to reconfirm that this drug, that according to the Lab, present this side effects as "rarely" now we can see that it is not, I have a 2.5 year old boy, that is presenting these same side effects that you are mentioning. In a sudden he starts to act really nervous, his eyes turn red and cries while he tries to express something, but he does not know what is going on, in the meantime he has this truly visible crisis, his heartbeat goes up like hell, and his hands shakes. My wife and I got really scared the first time we experienced this with him, and we did not know what to think, we asked the Doctor and the stupid guy told us that he needed a shrink, but we did not believed it. Today he had the second same crisis, not as hard as the last one, and we discussed and came up with the idea to find out what were the side effects of this drug, and voila, is the gdm Singulair. I just can't believe that the Doctors that are prescribing these drugs do not warn the people that this may happen. The only thing that I can do is write my experience to you, thanking you for your attention, and spread the voice to the other parents that are around me that they take care of this and prevent their children to go through this process. I really feel like trash, because I did not do this before starting giving him this drug. Thanks for listening.
By the way this is an international problem, I am writing you from Mexico City.

with your doctor. KEEP ALL DOCTOR AND LABORATORY APPOINTMENTS while you are using this medicine. Laboratory and/or medical tests should be performed periodically to monitor your progress or check for side effects. Check with your doctor for more

I just pulled this of the aarp site about 5mg singulair,did any ones doctor do lab work,not mine. When i called Merck this week to report side effects the rep asked if my son had ,follow up blood work,

My 10 year old son has taken Singulair on and off since he was 5 years old and has been on it for the past 3.5 years. My son at an early age was affected by a bad marriage and then the divorce when he was 5 yrs old. So we always suspected that his behavior issues were caused by this and I had done everything I possibly could to give them the help he needed to get over and through his issues. He was held back his first year of Kindergarden and during his second year midstream he was placed in a special class for behavioral problem children. Nothing ever seemed to help him, everytime we would see some progress and encouragement we were always blind sighted by a behavior that was always worse. Two steps forward and them 5 steps backwards. I always knew that his problems would never get better overnight so I just kept on going. He was diagnosed with ADHD but because he has some ticking issues I had to put him on Strattera which was did not do a thing for him. I always described him as my Dr. Jeckyll/ Mr. Hyde child. He could be really good and sit still and behave but I think he had to try really hard to do so. He eventually was always overpower by the impulse to show negative behaviors. Defiant, extremely impulsive, always negative and completely miserable all the time. He also went through phases of compulsions. There was always a compulsion of the month- germs, bathroom habits, noises, repetitive words. He hated school and always complained of a stomach ache which i thought he was always faking to get out of school. He had confrontations in school everyday for most of the day. I often thought some of this was because of being tired all the time. We had battled over bedtime every single night. He was terrified to go to bed alone, I tried everything to get him to sleep alone. I wore myself out falling asleep next to him, I would then go to my own bed only to be up with him half the night going back and forth. I gave in many a night and slept with him just so we could get a good nights sleep. At age 8.5 I finally got him to go to sleep alone but the lights haf to be on and he has to know that I am still awake before he will fall asleep. He would always say he didn't want to go to sleep because when he does he has bad thoughts about me and people that he loves. He always had an extremely hard time excepting the word "no"- he would flip out and hit his head with whatever was handy, throw things, break things, scream holler etc. It would take hours to get over it. When he did he would be very remorseful and lovable. He was always in turmoil. Finally in February of this year, this graduated to a new level where he would want to just kill himself and would actually go and pull a knife out of the drawer and just shake with anger as he held the knife to his throat. I was terrified although i really didn't think he was going to harm himself he just wanted to scare me. Then at the end of March when i first heard the news about the possible side effects of Singulair, I had only heard about the suicide effect. Oh great just what I needed was this medicine causing him to do that. The doctor was thinking about taking him off if this summer because he wanted to see if he out grew his seasonal allergies so I took him off immediately. Well I had no idea about the other side effects until my son turned into a completely different kid. School noticed a huge difference in him! His grades went up, his is able to control his behavior, he is happy he is NORMAL. I never suspected this drug as the culprit due to the timing of taking it. Our lives have changed completely. When i first found this site, it seemed as though some of the parents were writing about my child. It is amazing. My son still has some old habits to break but overall he is a wonderful and normal 10 year old boy. He did not outgrow his seasonal allergies but Allegra seems to help in through it. I get so angry- his whole early childhood was ruined by this medicine. He is a labled kid in our school system. This whole experience has opened up my eyes. Thank you for letting me share my story.

My son, now 10...has been on singular off and on, since I don't' know how long...today was the second time he was intentionally hurting his cat. He has told me time and time again about visions while he was awake, violent ones, he argues with anyone and everyone. He has no friends at school. Last year I took him off all his medications to see why his behavior was so drastic, he got so calm, it was like a new boy, but then when he started back to public school...he had to be put back on them again, and again with the singular...
If it was not for this site..I would think my son was sick mentally. But after this...he will see his doctor tomorrow and no more singular...
When I took him off all the meds I told his doctor I was really worried about his behavior and they said it will be okay...he went right back to just out of control. Could not sleep, concentrate at school or at home. He is so smart and he is failing school..not because he is slow, but they kept saying he was add...but when I home schooled him and took him off his meds...he was so great, obdient..not perfect by no means, but just a normal boy...
I hear him right now, in the other room, fighting imaginary people...he seems to go go go..and with no sleep...the dreams in the day time I just thought were his imagination...but now that i hear about other children like him...they are to him real..just like he tells me..he also always tells me how mad he stays..he says all the time I am just angry mom, and I would say at what..he just says everything...
Thank God for this site....now i know..it is not in his head, it is just like I told his doctor...it is his medication..now I know just the one it is..
THank you all..
God Bless all the others here suffering with the same problems...it is just shocking that we as parents and patients, even after telling the doctors, are right...I feel vindicated...I will be printing this off and taking it with us to the doctors...

My son is 6 years old and he has been on and off Singulair for about 2 years. He was off since last Fall 2007, but was put back on in April 2008 for allergies. He began telling me that he was having "dreams" during the day. He would then tell me these totally bizarre thoughts, "dreams" that he was having. They were very strange and perverted and violent. I asked him why he was saying this stuff and he said, "I just can't help it, they pop into my mind." I thought that he was going through a phase because he was bored. He is in 1/2 day kindergarten and I attributed this to too much television and boredom. I was thinking that someone was feeding him this crazy information (kids on bus, class, etc.) and he was repeating it to me. He was too showing OCD symptoms, afraid if he touched his feet- "is that dirty??" afraid if he touched someone's hand, "is that dirty if I touched Tim's hand?" He would also cry and whine often over the simplest things. I thought this was a phase. Our prescription for Singulair ran out and I did not fill. I started noticing a change over a week's time period. My little boy who was coming to me several times a day with bizarre "dreams" had not mentioned them at all. His compulsive behavior has stopped and so has the whining. I feel lucky that I did not fill the prescription because I would not have even thought it was the singular, since there are no side effects like the one's I mentioned above on the label. I am sick about this!!

Below is the latest ADR report on Singulair from the United Kingdom. I deleted side effects reports by very small numbers of patients in order to keep the post briefer. This shows the total number of reports since Singulair was approved in the UK.

I don't know the total number of prescriptions for Singulair in the UK. It is considered expensive.

Drug Analysis Print
Drug name: MONTELUKAST
Drug name: MONTELUKAST Report type: Spontaneous
Report run date: 13-May-2008 Report origin: UNITED KINGDOM
Data lock date: 09-May-2008 08:00:02 PM Route of admin: ALL
Period covered: 01-Jul-1963 to 09-May-2008 Reporter type: ALL
Earliest reaction date: 01-Jan-1997 Reaction: ALL

Cardiac disorders-TOTAL 64
Palpitations 29
Myocardial infarction 6
Tachycardia 6
Diarrhoea 84
Dyspepsia 24
Abdominal pain 98
Abdominal pain upper 22
Nausea 84
Vomiting 52
Dry mouth 15
Asthenia 13
Fatigue 45
Malaise 32
Sudden death 1
Pyrexia 10
Chest discomfort 12
Feeling abnormal 16
Influenza like illness 17
Irritability 18
Drug interaction 13
Chest pain 13
Arthralgia 59
Myalgia 38
Muscle spasms 24
Pain in extremity 14
Balance disorder 10
Lethargy 16
Somnolence 23
Psychomotor hyperactivity 25
Headache 221
Dizziness 68
Neuropathy peripheral 7
Convulsion 6
Epilepsy 7
Dysgeusia 7
Hypoaesthesia 6
Tremor 18
Nervous system disorders TOTAL 526
Abnormal behaviour 13
Agitation 12
Anxiety 18
Aggression 30
Depression 23
Insomnia 58
Abnormal dreams 12
Nightmare 49
Hallucination 21
Sleep disorder 15
Psychiatric disorders TOTAL 364
Asthma 36
Allergic granulomatous angiitis 43
Angioedema 12
Swelling face 12
Erythema 13
Pruritus 32
Rash pruritic 17
Rash 55
Urticaria 33

TOTAL NUMBER OF REACTIONS 2841
TOTAL NUMBER OF FATAL ADR REPORTS* 19
TOTAL NUMBER OF ADR REPORTS* 1489

I took my son off Singular a month ago, some slight improvements with the sleep and behavior problems. I voiced my concerns with my doctor twice now he looks at me like Im crazy and then he goes on the PC and says he cant find any of these side affects im talking about. My son was an appointment to see an allergist specialist.

Just an update. Went to FDA.gov and submitted a complaint and then called Merck and told them as well. The rep I spoke with sent me to the prescribing information, how am I supposed to know about any of this? I am not the Doctor, I can't prescribe meds! She pointed out that this the mood changes is in the info...that I don't get b/c I am not the doctor, duh! Anyway I just wanted to vent and tell about our experience. Will give an update tomorrow after I talk to the ENT. I have also decided to take him off of any and all allergy meds for a good long time. I would rather wipe a runny nose all day and have my happy baby boy back then to have to battle a monster...

well Sunday afternoon here, and very very hot,everybody is napping in the air conditioning,As i watch my son nap on the couch,i cant help but wonder what these three years did,when i ask him how different he feels ,he explains it as not being trapped in his thoughts.He will be 15 by the time school is back in session,he is kinda nervous kinda scared about returning to school,he had been out of school and home tutored for 2 years due to his anxiety and panic,but that is getting better now although some days i see in his eyes that a touch may be hiding, but i push him and say ok to the mall we go or to putt putt, .I know i can push him now and he will be ok.That in its self is a wonderful thing,i knew before if i pushed he would break.I worry about his return to school and the stigma that might surround him, you know kids can be cruel, well he forever be known as the kid that was in the psych hospital.As i ponder i wonder when did it all go so wrong,when was it ever ok to murder and torture children in this way,and some how call it the cost of doing business.Somebody needs to man up,speak out and care what has happened .Merck is not knocking my door asking if they can help bring back some of the innocence lost.the doctors seem to want to ignore the fact it even happened,barly taking the time to even ask.Not surprising really as they properly don't even know his name.As the weeks go by and the healing continues,I ask can i ever forgive,the answer is no as it was not me victimized but my child ,your child,precious children,in the name of doing business.

Update.... well my 6yr old son came off Singulair on 3-29. His sinuses drained finally (only waiting past year for that to happen) 9 days after coming off. His sinus problems have been gradually going away. He is now only taking claritin and sudafed when absolutely needed. BUT he started with sore throats. He never had a problem with tonsils only adenoids which they took out in Feb. Now since stopping the Singulair his tonsils have become constantly infected and twice the size so he will be having them removed in July. Some of the antibiotic don't seem to be working as he has been on them so much over past year. Im wondering if the Singulair was hiding the fact there was a problem with the tonsils as well.

This is my story. My daughter 14, the most precious child ever born. She has a wonderful disposition always happy, loving, and determined to succeed in whatever she does. She just brightens everyone’s world.
She suffers from severe seasonal allergies and mild asthma. She takes approximately seven allergy/asthma medicines a day during peak season. Over the past two years she has been taking Singular as one of her medicines. Being 14, sick of taking medicine she would not take the Singular on a regular basis. Approximately four months ago “MOM” says, if you take nothing else take your Singular it will work both for the seasonal allergies and your asthma. She has been taking this regularly four the past four months.
She became paranoid, she became a compulsive eater and bites the skin on her fingers. She would eat and chew on her fingers at the same time, until she choked. She had so much anger, she could not even go to the mall without temper tantrums.(As a child she never had any tantrums ) Always afraid. Severe depression set in. She would cry at a moments notice. She would say, I have a very sad life, sad very sad, nothing makes me like this, I’m just sad. She felt she should go live with the homeless people. I asked her why, she didn’t know, she felt maybe that’s where she belonged. Nightmares and sleepless nights.
She needs help quickly. Before calling the Doctor, I went on the internet and entered Singular and depression and I found 1900 entries, all people telling me what I was experiencing. Could this possibly be the answer for us? I called her Dr and told him what I thought, he said he has never had anyone that this has happened to. He hoped it was the answer, but really didn’t think is. He said if it wasn’t the answer she would need therapy, mood stabilizer and Prozac.

Its day four off Singular, she smiling, no tears today, no temper tantrums, looking forward to school next week, wants to play volleyball next year, singing in the car,
I hear that happy voice again.(Hi, Mommy!!!!!!) Every once in a while a glaze comes over her face. She isn’t a 100% back, but I know it is coming.

To all the people that don’t have the happy ending, I will pray for you and hold you in my heart forever.

June 2, 2008

I am sure that all kinds of people told Kate Miller that Concernedcitizen was a cuckoo or a Merck competitor. I haven't been employed by a pharma company in many years. Everybody ever employed by a pharma company higher than a certain level (practically the mailroom) knows this stuff and what to look for.

I think that I am about ready to say my opinion on how montelukast works and why these problems develop. It will just be my opinion. I need to try to find actual proof but I may forego that and just say it soon.

"Montelukast (Merck brand name Singulair) is a selective Cys-LT1 receptor antagonist that is used to control asthma symptoms in children and adults. Although safe and effective, the inter-patient variability in response is substantial (25-60% response rate), which is due in part to genetic variability. For example, we recently reported that polymorphisms in candidate genes that encode proteins in the LT pathway influence responsiveness to the drug."

Co-sponsored by Merck

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT00513760

In my opinion, we shouldn't blame doctors for what they are not told about medications.

We know definitely that work was being done on genetic profiling of children with asthma. We know definitely that the CysLT1 receptor is a gene with variants. We don't know how many different variants. We know that montelukast binds with high affinity to the gene type used in the research studies that lead to it's approval as a drug for asthma. We know that montelukast is very specific because it won't even bind to CysLT1 receptor sub-types. Now somebody out there knows whether there are patients, for which it would be impossible for montelukast to be effective because the patient has a gene variant that is different.

We know that Merck had clinical trials acknowledging that there was a genetic component. We know that Hakon Hakonarson had all kinds of legal troubles over his data base of genetic profiles. We know that Merck was interested in his company. So where is the answer about the genetic variants and the ability to predict whether Singulair will be effective for a particular patient? And, where is the answer about what happens when montelukast does not bind to the cysLT1 receptor?

Hakonarson testifies deCODE loses partnerships because Stefansson won't share corporate information

A former vice president at deCODE Genetics Inc. testified in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Friday that the Icelandic biotech firm has been eager to line up new partnerships with other drug development and research firms, but potential deals have died because the company's chief executive refused to share corporate information with possible partners.

Hakon Hakonarson, who had been the firm's vice president of business development, said deCODE CEO Kari Stefansson wanted to form more development deals with other firms, but was not willing to share enough corporate information for serious negotiations to continue. "Dr. Stefansson was always conservative and somewhat insecure about sending information, even if it was under a confidentiality agreement," said Hakonarson.

deCODE has sued Hakonarson for allegedly stealing trade secrets when he defected from the firm earlier this year to become director of the new Center for Applied Genetics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The center plans to genotype 100,000 children and develop new treatments with private-sector partners.

In its case against Hakonarson and four other former deCODE employees, the company alleges thousands of computer files were stolen from deCODE with the intention of duplicating the company's business model and operations at CHOP in order to compete directly with deCODE. The company is seeking a preliminary injunction to enforce employment contracts that would prevent its former scientists from working at CHOP for two years.

CHOP's lawyer, William Hangley, elicited responses from Hakonarson indicating that earlier this year, deCODE was in need of new outside partners because some key revenue-generating relationships were winding down. An agreement with Roche Diagnostics was set to expire at the end of June, while another clinical trial program with Merck was in effect, but inactive, Hakonarson testified. He also said he had tried to get Cephalon interested in taking a larger role in deCODE.

Bayer was invited to work on clinical trials for a cardiovascular drug, but the deal never happened, Hakonarson testified. Earlier this month, deCODE announced it was discontinuing work on the drug because of problems with the formulation.

Hakonarson said he became alarmed earlier this year when he saw other biotechs forming partnership deals even though he felt deCODE had a superior pipeline. "I felt we had significant resources and we could not get this done because Dr. Stefansson never allowed it to materialize."

Hakonarson's testimony also touched on computer files. A forensic computer expert hired by deCODE to analyze its systems gave earlier testimony that Hakonarson or people using his login identity and password copied at least 46,795 files from the Hakonarson folder on the deCODE home directory. "In all reasonable probability, those files were written to the Western Digital 250GB external hard disk drive or other smaller removable media devices that Hakonarson is known to have used at deCODE," according to a report filed by John F. Ashley, a forensic computer analyst hired by deCODE.

In his testimony, Hakonarson described one case in which he did remove files from deCODE computers. He said he took files related to a presentation about gene chip equipment by Illumina Inc., which provides technology to deCODE, off the company's 30-day open file system in late May or early June after Stefansson had asked him to resign. Hakonarson and Stefansson have both testified that even after Hakonarson announced he would be taking the job at CHOP in February, the two attempted to work out a collaboration in which Hakonarson would also work part-time for deCODE. Eventually those talks broke down and deCODE filed its suit, which was unsealed Sept. 26.

Hakonarson also said he had been in discussions with Cephalon about working as a consultant until he received a letter from deCODE's attorneys this summer. He said the letter contained some inaccuracies, particularly a charge that deCODE first learned about his intention to move to CHOP in July when the center put out a press release. Harkonarson insisted Stefansson knew about his plans in February and said he was concerned the letter was setting him up for legal problems later.

"I was concerned Kari had been as a chess player making valuable moves to go forward," Hakonarson said.

The complex hearings, which have been before Judge Jan E. DuBois since the suit was unsealed, have been closed frequently as the parties discuss parts of the case they contend are confidential. Hearings are scheduled to resume in November.

Susan Warner
mail@the-scientist.com

All credit to Susan Warner and the-scientist

More evidence of what I have been saying about genetics and the leukotriene pathway that Singulair blocks. FLAP's as mentioned below are actually the same era as Singulair (late 90's)--many scientists were looking at this pathway.

The genetic component is so "in your face" every where that I am quite appalled that Merck has not at least addressed that issue by now.

Monday, June 02, 2008
Amira Pharmaceuticals Achieves Milestones in FLAP Inhibitor Program With GlaxoSmithKline
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SEND ComtexDigg It StumbleUpon Newsvine Reddit SAN DIEGO, Jun 02, 2008 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX) ----GSK exercises option for AM803, a FLAP inhibitor which recently completed phase I studies

Amira Pharmaceuticals today announced that under the terms of a worldwide exclusive agreement entered into in Feb 2008, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK: 43.65, -0.88, -1.97%) will exercise its right to a second FLAP compound, AM803. Under the original agreement, GSK has rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize FLAP (5-Lipoxygenase Activating Protein) inhibitors for the treatment of respiratory and cardiovascular disease. The decision to develop AM803 follows the successful completion of a phase I study by Amira, which demonstrated its potential as a once-daily FLAP inhibitor.

"Exercise of this option by GSK caps a productive first few months during which Amira has hit a number of near term milestones. Hitting these milestones early has not only further strengthened our relations with GSK, but has resulted in meaningful economic benefit to Amira," said Hari Kumar, Chief Business Officer, Amira. "The project has started extremely well and we are very pleased at the commitment of GSK and the progression of development."

About FLAP Inhibitors

FLAP (5-Lipoxygenase Activating Protein) is a key component early in the leukotriene pathway, a complex signaling process that exerts control over biological processes, such as inflammation and immunity. Excessive production of leukotrienes exacerbates inflammatory diseases, such as asthma; the FLAP gene has also been linked to a significant increase in the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. AM103 and AM803 bind to FLAP, inhibiting the synthesis of leukotrienes that cause inflammation.

About Amira

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Diego, Amira Pharmaceuticals is a small molecule pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and early development of compounds to treat inflammatory disease linked to the eicosanoid pathway.

The company combines the rigor of a big pharmaceutical company with the ingenuity and energy of a small company, creating an environment for efficient and effective pre-clinical and clinical program decisions. Its scientific founders have successfully worked together for more than a decade and were pivotal in the discovery of a number of inflammatory drugs, including Singulair(R: 73.05, -0.38, -0.51%). The drug hunters at Amira are now actively leveraging their history of success to create high-value compounds for the future. For more information, visit http://www.amirapharm.com.

Web site: http://www.amirapharm.com

Clinical trial of montelukast in the Netherlands.

I noticed two things:

1. The researcher states that sides effects are 10%.
2. The researcher will not allow patients to also take drugs which are metabolized by CYP2C8 because montelukast inhibits that as proved by in vitro (test tube) studies. American studies in vitro said yes montelukast is an inhibitor but in vivo (in people) that it didn't happen. I was always confused by that and would still like to know more
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******

I am posting my response to it's own thread.

Concerned citizen who worked for Upjohn has intestinal disorders worrying about all of these poor children and "slowly" Merck admits that Singulair got out of control.

I honestly believe that Singulair was invented for a very specific reason related to the fact that most people who suffer from asthma have a very similar profile. I believe the Merck originally wanted to identify that profile and solve some bad problems. Then, somebody in the "greed department" ruined everything by trying to market Singulair for everything. I hope we don't see Singulair for ingrown toe nail.

I looked at the research from the 80's and 90's. I don't believe that Merck Canada had gone evil and "desired" to invent a way to kill people. It does look like there is a profile regarding asthma and it was really of benefit to find a way to stop the damage that is done by the extreme over-reactive airway.

The problem is some kind of corporate/marketing strategy that dictates that every product be sold to the ULTIMATE regardless in order to maximize PROFITS.

hi, i posted a couple of days ago as i was not sure what to do because my daughter was prescribed this horrible poison. i went to another dr yesterday and has now given her something else and was disgusted that my dr gave it to her for 2 reasons, firstly the side effects and also my daughter suffers seasonal winter asthma.

THE DR I WENT TO YESTERDAY RECEIVED AN UPDATE LETTER FROM MERCK JUST YESTERDAY.

it said that the investigation will probably end around sept. and YES so far they have found about 3 % of users will SUFFER from side effects. my doctor said it doesn't sound full proof but slowly its seem that they are admitting there is problems. please ask your own doctors if they have received this letter as i don't recall everything in it.

I have posted a few times. My daughter started taking singulair 11-17-2003 and I stopped it 3-28-2008. She is the one that dropped out of dance and cheerleading, withdrew from old friends and family, headaches, stomachaches, missing school with this, depressed, anxiety attacks and CUTTING her self under her clothes. 6 months with a psychiatrist did not help. She is now about 80% back from the darkness. She is so much better and is such a loving child, She is not cutting, has a part time job, and has passed all her classes with 3 A's, 1 B, and 2 C's. BUT there are learned behaviors while in the darkness that still show up. Not every day but they are there. She has been pushed off her life path. I am hanging on to her with all my might and I know that I will get her through college and she will have the tools to be self reliant and happy BUT what could she have been if I never gave her singulair???? I can not help but feel guilty to what I have done to this child

hi, im not sure what to do. my 3 1/2 year old daughter was today given the prescription for singulair. i voiced my concerns to the doctor after my friend telling me its no good due to the side effects.she said that there are risks and side effects with any drug you take but for some reason i don't feel right about this. don't doctors know better than this. anyway Would like to know if all the people who take singulair suffer some sort of side affects or is it minimal? or going by this side it looks like its probably best not to give it to her at all.

I already posted about my son's behavioral changes while on the drug from the time he was 4-7. He is now 9 years old and has been back to "normal now for 18 months. BUT- we recently had his immune system checked though a blood test and he does not have sufficient immunity for ANY viruses. My 6 year old could fight 8 out of the 14, but my son who was on Singulair for almost 4 years has a severely depleted immune system. And from what I have read, could clearly be attributed to the drug. BUYER BEWARE~!

My son (27 months old) has been taking Singular for about a month and a half now to treat his asthma. His asthma is doing great, but since he started taking Singular he has been having awful nightmares. At the suggestion of his doctor we started giving him his medication in the morning instead of at night to see what happened. That just started effecting his naps and night-time sleep.
The doctor is now suggesting taking him off the Singular to see if he nightmares stop. I'm hoping everything improves after stopping Singular, but don't know what to do about the asthma.

My Grandson is one of the children who has experienced these horrible side effects. In the two months that he has been taking singulair, I have watched my daughter and her husband become increasingly terrified at the changes in our happy loving little boy. I am urging each and everyone of you to contact Merck and the FDA and file a complaint in order to stop this drug from being used in children. It is one thing as an informed adult to take a medication with potential side effects, it is a totally different thing for a parent to give a medication that they have been led to "Believe" to be safe to their child. There is strength in numbers and if we all contact the news, Merck, FDA, any one we can think of and inform them about what is happening to our children on this drug, we will be able to stop other potential victims from experiencing what our families are going thru....Please I urge you to continue to spread the word about this drug - tell everyone you know. Remember, Merck doesn't really care about our kids. They only care about the bottom line - PROFITS.

I've noticed that NBC and The Weather Channel appear to be two of the biggest advertisers of Singulair. NBC can always be sure to have one on during the evening news, at least here where we live, on our local NBC channel. There for awhile, I was logging what time, and what channel I saw the ad. The ad only lists the basic side effects that aren't even dangerous. Merck must be paying NBC the big bucks because they still haven't dropped it. I don't know, should we bombard NBC with letters of negativity or boycott or something to get their attention on this murderous drug?

I have a three year old son who has severe allergies. He's been taking singulair for 2 years on & off just in the allergy season. He started taking, singulair again in the beginning of April. One morning he woke up and both eyes were really swollen and red, I called his doctor's office and told them i thought he had pink eye, after 2 different drops and no change I brought him into the doctor's to see if it could be his allergies, and they agreed and started him on Zyrtec. I still was not impressed with the results so i brought him back yet again to see if we could see a specialist. Instead they put him on nasonex to try.
In the beginning of March I started to see a change in my usual happy fun loving son. He was scared to sleep in his bed, waking up in the middle of the night from bad dreams, uncontrollable screaming fits that would last up to an hour, saying he wants a Boo Boo. At first we thought it could be jealously over his new brother, or maybe something at his school.
Then i found this website and everything clicked, how scary it must be for a child to have these horrible thoughts and not be able to understand or stop them. What are the people at merck thinking??
Can any one tell me when the symptoms stop. He's been off for a week and we see some improvements. But he still has these fits with almost an OCD tendency to them (mainly when he's overtired), stomach pains, lack of appetite.

I don't think that anyone can predict a time frame for getting over an adverse drug reaction. Below is my opinion but I see a lot of evidence that it is basically shared by other people maybe not exactly as I state it.

Adverse drug reactions deplete many essential nutrients from our systems. Inflammatory response is very stressful on the body. It is sometimes a very big effort to work on the diet to put back what has been taken away. It can take a long time.

Quinolines particularly deplete B-vitamins, folic acid (B-9), calcium/magnesium/zinc and omega-3 fatty acid. Sometimes the blood-lab work shows elevated homocysteine which proves that the body has suffered inflammation. Cardiologists now use homocysteine levels to show whether someone is at risk for heart disease due to inflammation. Deficiencies of B-6, B-9, and B-12 are known to cause elevated homocysteine.

Here is the pharmaceutical company ZINGER. Now companies such as Merck and Pfizer are going to offer niacin products to lower cholesterol. Well, yeh, duh !. All of these drug reactions are causing depleted B vitamins which elevate cholesterol. Then after they have tried to kill us by depleting our B - vitamins, they want to sell us another pill to give the B vitamins back to us. How many people out there are on some kind of a pill with side effects that cause inflammation? What a business? It is win, win, win.

In September of 2007 my then 13 year old daughter was put on Singular for mild asthma. At the time she was a straight A student, vice president of our school and a popular girl who's guidance counselor described as "the glue of her grade" because she was so well liked. In November she told me that she was struggling with advanced Latin and Science. She asked to drop down to on grade Latin so we did. In December her science teacher notified us that she had a C average. She told me that she thought she had ADD/ADHD and she couldn't keep up. At the same time she was having a lot of problems with friends at school and we just attributed it to being 14. 3 weeks ago we discovered that she is significantly behind in English and it was then that she told me that she is been having horrific night mares. She said that they usually involve someone killing her or her killing herself. She said that they were so graphic that she couldn't repeat it out loud. She also said that she would feel waves of anxiety that would come over her at school and she would act "witchy" to the kids in her class for no real reason. She said that sometimes when she is trying to do her homework she will read the same passage for 2 hours and still have no idea what it's about. She also said that the suicidal thoughts from her sleep happened during they day and that she had thoughts of her harming herself. Fortunately her pulminologist told us that this may be caused by singular and we immediately took her off of it which was 2 weeks ago. She has only had 1 "bad dream" not even a nightmare since. She had one anxiety attack 3 days after she was off it and she describes her moods as the "cloud lifting....slowly". Now, we have to pick up the pieces. Her grades have suffered, her friendships have suffered and most of all her self esteem is very low. I'm grateful that we found out the cause but I feel as if my daughter lost a year of her life and I worry that because Merck won't admit there are side effects we can't find out how long it remains in their system. Is anyone else concerned about the long term affect and has anyone pursued a class action suit to try to get this drug tested properly?

I just viewed a commercial for Singulair now marketing directly to children. Has anyone seen it? They're promoting cherry flavored chewables and a cute little kitten in the background. The side effects so many of us have experienced with our children are still not mentioned instead they've done the exact opposite. With this drug under investigation(Dr. Sarah Sellers has already sent a personal email from the FDA) this is immoral! What can we do to stop any more children from being injured? Merck has no ethics, NONE!

In reply to concerned-dad and all others with chronic congestion, etc. I have heard several people that have tried the "Eat Right For Your Blood Type" (in bookstores) with incredible results. Even if they have not followed the most strict food do's/don't for their blood type, and made minimal changes they noticed a dramatic difference with congestion and asthma symptoms in children and adults.

I am not endorsing the book - but I will however give it a good hard try if my daughter's symptoms return that she had prior to being put on Singulair. And yes, you are so right to be concerned with the timing of Singulair and any new behavior issues - I still stand my ground when I say it is NOT normal for a toddler growing up in a loving home to have such horrible night terrors, screaming in fear.

My 4 year old took her last dose 3 weeks ago after a 2 year run on Singulair not an hour has gone by without her dad, sister and I still feeling waves of shock. She has completely changed from an unhappy, moody, unemotional girl into a loving, well-mannered, well-disciplined, even tempered 4 year old. Unfortunately, since the side effects have been so secretly held, all parents have been chalking all the behavioral issues to "toddler" years.

As I wrote to the FDA rep, this would be a classics Deceptive Trade issue for any other company in our country. Quite simply, when Singulair first rolled out it was sold with "ABC" treatments and "XYZ" side effects by the pharm reps. In February the FDA website notes they have given Merck 9 months to investigate (THEMSELVES) the many consistent complaints of side effects received for Singulair. And since the FDA did not give them a time limit to communicate the ongoing investigation and recently added side effects, my pediatrician and pharmacist as of May are still unaware. Same old commercials airing with the original "mild" side effects as sore throat, etc., same pharm reps visiting my doctor without informing of recent changes to the originally selling points.

Had my pediatrician been aware, I would have not received the answer I did when asking her what a toddler could have so horrible in their life to scream and cry through nightmares - "Some children react in their dreams if perhaps they saw a spider earlier in the day that scared them". I figured it would have to be a spider the size of my car to get that kind of nightmare, but in her defense had she been aware of the updated information with Singulair she would have zeroed in on the "bad/vivid dreams" Merck has now added to their website.

Hope this helps someone and if anyone has given the "Blood Type" eating regimen a try would love to hear comments.

I am posting this as a new post. I am not against Singulair. I am against withholding negative side effects from the patients. I am against promoting that Singulair is safe and effective for everybody on the planet.

My entire family is health care. My father was a surgeon. I worked for a pharmaceutical company. Pharmaceutical companies are supposed to ethically invent drugs and inform everybody about the safe and effective way to use those drugs. Pharmacists are supposed to police the prescriptions and dispense the correct dosage. Then pharmacists are supposed to be aware of side effects and drugs interactions. When necessary, pharmacist are supposed to intervene to prevent a mis- communication from turning into a disaster. Doctors are supposed to review the recommendations of pharmaceutical companies (who are policed by the FDA) in order to determine if their diagnosis matches the profile of drugs known to be therapies for certain symptoms. I, personally, am madder than hell at Merck. Singulair could really be a good therapy when it is needed. It could correct some bad stuff that happens short term. Why does Merck's need to make every drug a major block buster money maker ruin the market for Singulair?

Wow what it is with all these doctors not knowing these side effects, don't they know that there butts are hanging in the wind,the law protects the drug companies ,but doctors you are not immune

My son is almost 6 yrs old. He has been taking Singular for approx 3 years, in addition to Claritin and Nasonex. This is all for his allergy to mold. His doctor started him on these meds after a 6 month episode with sinus infections leading to asthma-like symptoms. We have not noticed anything unusual about his behavior until approx 3 months ago. He started waking up every night (2-3 hours after going to bed) with bad dreams. At first he would not fully awaken and fall back asleep immediately. After a month or so of this happening most nights, he had two nights in a row where he woke up screaming and was inconsolable for about 30 minutes. We initially thought it was night terrors, but he was not scared or fearful, he was just upset/angry. He would hit the bed repeatedly and yell. He didn't know what he was upset about but would talk about how he thought we hated him, he was dumb, etc. After about 30 min he would 'snap out of it' and return to his normal self and go back to sleep easily.
At first we thought these were night terror brought on by a recent fever, but he had another episode last night. He has also been falling apart at the littlest things and getting quite violent (for a 6 yr old). He was sent to his room yesterday evening because he was complaining about the dinner his mom made (lots of complaining these days..). He had a total melt down an started throwing things and hitting the door so hard he put a hole in it.
Some of this behavior I would chalk up to normal kid stuff, new baby brother, etc. But I am suspicious about the negative thoughts, bad dreams, and instant melt downs... I stopped giving him Singular today and we will see what happens. God bless you all as we figure these things out...

Wow, I just found this site. The child that had strep especially caught my attention. My daughter, 11, has been diagnosed with PANDAS, which is also a controversial diagnosis. I'm not sure when she went on Singular, but it was a couple of years ago due to allergies. She had bad reactions to anti-histamines. For the past two years we have been dealing with just about every issue posted here. Physical pains, stomach, headaches, joints. urination issues, high cholesterol, but the worst have been the irritability , mood issues, OCD, fears of cutting herself, bad thoughts, suicidal ideation. She was on Zoloft which made things worse, She was hospitalized at her own request. She was placed on Prozac. She's had years of therapy. She would say life is just so hard and she wants to be a normal kid. About a month ago her pediatrician mentioned that there were some reports about Singular and it would be something to watch for and discuss with the psychiatrist, He didn't seem to know much about it. Last week after another suicidal ideation I decided to research the singular issue. I had been attributing everything to the PANDAs. I was so surprised to see the similarities. I took her off of it Friday and have seen some changes already. I hope we see that continued improvement. Thanks to all who have shared stories, it's so helpful. To have hope that you'll get your kid back is great.

My son age 3 was diagnosed with asthma about a year ago. Since then he has been sick constantly. Most recently his doctor has prescribed Singulair. He is aggressively pushing it on us. I stated my concerns to him, and he said there is nothing wrong with the drug.. he gets all the news letters.. and all the things I listed was the first time he heard anything.. I asked for his to refer us to a specialist and he wont.. I cant find anyone for a second opinion..My son needs medicine- at night i cant leave his side cause of his breathing.. The doctor wont suggest any alternate and I am stuck. I keep reading about all the people who are not taking singulair anymore- what what are they taking? I am completely lost here!

concerned citizen,i enjoy reading your posts and research you have been so helpful,but i do have to say,i do expect the doctors that write prescriptions to do their homework and research on these drugs,i do feel that they should be extremely knowledgeable about what they are giving our children,that is why i pay them the big bucks.I told them of my concerns and they poo pooed me,when as it turns out now i was quite possibly right,i will asked them to do another blood test now he is not on meds,and if as i suspect it has gone down i will loudly shout i told you so and demand answers from them.I so often questioned the meds and was always made to feel dumb,Ignorance is not a defense and someone was very ignorant

Flindy is correct. It is easily possible to be just plain allergic to montelukast- Singulair. Where were the other "allergens" that her child was exposed to? It was, at least hopefully, a sterile environment.

Montelukast is a quinoline. Drugs often are built around a core molecular called a pharmacophore, the molecule responsible for the drug's important characteristics. There is an enormous amount of literature regarding adverse side effects for other drugs in that category.

At the time when Merck was pursuing quinoline as the pharmacophore, other companies were pursing other core molecules. So a quinoline core is not the only choice of drugs. The huge problem is that doctors are not aware that Singulair is not an anti-histamine. They are not warned that the core molecule is a quinoline so they don't know to watch out for allergic reactions especially serious ones.

It would be common knowledge that a quinoline radical (in an acid pH) could react with hydrogen peroxide to produce quinilinic acid, a nasty neurotoxin. When I hear of neuro-psychiatric side effects that appear to coincide with times when hypoglycemia could be happening, then maybe there are some genetically pre-disposed people that actually are experiencing times of ketoacidosis. Scientist have known about quinolinic acid since the 1940's. Malaria drugs containing quinoline come with a warning about hypoglycemia and electrolyte imbalance. Which comes first - the chicken or the egg- the reaction to the drug then the hypoglycemia or the hypoglycemia then the reaction? It would be amazingly easy to prove whether quinolinic acid is responsible for these neurological side effects.

I am appalled by two things. One is that Merck has such power over the FDA that the FDA fails to even recognize basic pharmacophore characteristics. Merck manages to snow them somehow with just words - leukotriene receptor antagonist. So what is the FDA reaction? Merck should review their clinical data. How about find some people who are suffering from Singulair side effects and do some tests? Then you might actually find out why.

If it turns out that anyone at Merck or FDA knew that montelukast carried significant risk of allergic reactions due to it's pharmacophore and they chose not to reveal that in the literature for marketing reasons, those people should be prosecuted. It should not be the job of doctors who prescribe medications to do their own research.

I have some more questions for you guys. I am looking for connections to the killer t-cells that appeared in asthma cases. I would like to know if your child was vaccinated for hepatitis B, at what ages, and if you child has asthma. Also if your child was one of the ones vaccinated for rotavirus.

Thanks in advance.