In the 1990s cycling saw a number of unexplained deaths from
heart attacks. It was surmised that many athletes were
using/abusing EPO, the blood-boosting drug developed by Amgen in
1989. In 2007, the FDA just figured this out and is now issuing
a warning about the abuse/overuse if EPO. Are they paying
attention? The Food and Drug Administration issued strict new
warnings yesterday about overuse of widely prescribed anemia
drugs after a flurry of recent studies suggested they might
cause heart problems or hasten the death of cancer patients. The
agency said that a “black box” warning — the strongest kind —
had been added to the labels of the drugs and that doctors
should use the lowest possible dose needed to help patients
avoid blood transfusions. It also said it was re-evaluating the
validity of claims in the labels and in advertisements that the
drugs can raise energy levels or otherwise improve a patient’s
quality of life. Almost one million Americans take one of the
drugs, which are mostly used to treat a