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The antibiotic tigecycline (Tygacil) was released in 2005 specifically to treat infections caused by resistant gram-positive organisms like methicillin-resistant staphylococci and vancomycin-resistant enterococci. However, some postmarketing data has suggested the drug is ineffective or even dangerous.
Researchers analyzed the results of 10 published and 3 unpublished trials that involved nearly 4000 patients who were randomized to receive tigecycline for various infections. Overall, short-term mortality was higher in tigecycline recipients than among those who received other antibiotics by about 30% (4% vs. 3%), and noncure rates were about 12% higher. These differences persisted in a variety of subanalyses adjusting for different infection…