Medications Used by Many That Damage the Liver

A study by American scientists has shown that a number of antibiotics, neuroleptics, statins, antifungal and antiparasitic drugs can have serious toxic effects on the liver. This conclusion was reached by specialists from leading US universities in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

As reported by BAKU.WS, their work was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

The analysis of medical records of eight million patients, collected by the US Veterans Health Administration, covered the period from 2000 to 2021. Researchers compiled a list of 194 most commonly prescribed medications in the US and studied their effects on patients without liver and biliary tract diseases.

Over 20 years of observations, 1,739 cases of severe acute liver failure requiring hospitalization were recorded. Scientists paid special attention to 17 drugs that proved to be the most dangerous for the liver.

Metronidazole - an antimicrobial agent used in the treatment of giardiasis, trichomonas vaginitis, and peptic ulcer disease - topped the list in terms of toxicity. The high-risk drugs list also included the antiviral stavudine, the neuroleptic prochlorperazine, some statins, antibiotics, and antifungal agents. Moreover, 11 of these drugs were previously considered safe.