Clarithromycin CYP3A4, involved in the metabolism of many other commonly prescribed drugs. Taking clarithromycin with other medications that are metabolized by CYP3A4 may lead to unexpected increases or decreases in drug levels. A few of the common interactions are listed below. Clarithromycin has been observed to have a dangerous interaction with colchicine as the result of inhibition of CYP3A4 metabolism and P-glycoprotein transport. Combining these two drugs may lead to fatal colchicine toxicity, particularly in patients with renal insufficiency. Taking clarithromycin concurrently with certain statins (a class of drugs used to reduce blood serum cholesterol levels) increases the risk of side
Specialty drugs in the United States not only costs more, but they also take longer to develop than other large market pharmaceuticals (See Drug development). In addition, there are often fewer drug choices for rare or hard-to-treat diseases. This results in less competition in the marketplace for these drugs due to patent protection, which allows these firms to act as monopolists (See Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act). Due to this lack of competition, policies that serve to limit prices in other markets can be ineffective or even counter-productive when applied to specialty drugs. High prices for specialty drugs are a problem for both