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Study: Powerful heartburn drugs pose diarrhea risk

LTC Liability Monitor, December 22, 2005

A new study suggests that popular heartburn drugs such as Prilosec, Prevacid, and Nexium can lead to a potentially dangerous diarrhea caused by the bug Clostridium difficile (C. diff), the Associated Press (AP) reported. Conducted by researchers at McGill University in Montreal, the study showed that subjects with acid-fighting proton pump inhibitors were nearly three times as likely to have the bug as those who did not.

The C. diff bacteria is especially common in hospitals and nursing homes, whose residents should be treated for heartburn with less potent drugs, if possible, researchers advised. The study appears in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

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