Nevirapine is prescribed to treat patients with HIV, but it causes many life-threatening side effects, including fatal liver toxicity and skin rashes. Nevirapine remains on the market because of its success in suppressing the HIV virus in most patients. However, if you experience a serious skin or liver injury from Nevirapine, you should stop taking it immediately, contact your doctor, and never take it again.
What are some important things I should know about Nevirapine?
Nevirapine is combined with other medications to suppress the HIV virus in HIV positive patients. Nevirapine reduces the amount of HIV virus in the patient’s blood, but cannot cure the disease entirely, cannot protect the person from receiving the virus, and cannot prevent the spread of the virus. Nevirapine has also been used to prevent unborn babies from acquiring HIV if their mothers have the virus during pregnancy.
Nevirapine is for people with HIV, whether or not they have developed AIDS. Women are at three times greater risk of developing liver toxicity from Nevirapine, and should carefully weigh the potential benefits of the treatment against the potential injury. Also, people with higher than CD4+ cell counts are at greater risk for liver injury. The FDA recommends against using Nevirapine for women with higher than CD4+ cell counts, unless the benefits clearly outweigh the risks.
Nevirapine has led to death in some patients, including pregnant women, because of liver toxicity.
Nevirapine can cause life-threatening liver toxicity, allergic reactions and skin rashes. Some people have died because of Nevirapine, including pregnant women. If you experience an injury because of Nevirapine, you should contact your doctor, stop taking the medication, and never take it again.
Contact your doctor immediately if you experience any signs of injury from Nevirapine. Symptoms of liver toxicity, allergic reactions and skin rashes include:
- rash
- tiredness
- upset stomach
- dark urine
- pale stools
- yellow skin or eyes
- hives
- difficulty breathing
- tightness in your chest
- swelling in your face or mouth
- flu-like symptoms
- mouth sores
- red or swollen eyes
- swelling in legs or feet
- pain in your stomach