National Jewish Medical and Research Center Statement on Topical Immune Modulators

DENVER, CO —

Physicians and researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center have studied and used the topical immune modulators tacrolimus (Protopic®) and pimecrolimus (Elidel®) for several years. They believe these products are safe and offer a lower chance of harmful side effects than do other common treatments for atopic dermatitis, such as topical and oral steroids, ultraviolet light, and more powerful immune suppressants.

 

They have reviewed data from both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and from Novartis. They see no reason to change their opinions about these products. As a result, they do not intend to change their prescribing patterns for this class of medications.

Do National Jewish physicians prescribe TIMs for children under the age of 2?

Yes, when appropriate.

What about FDA concerns regarding cancer and infections?

Review of the data does not show any definite association and is speculative.

National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation. Founded 125 years ago as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health today is the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of children and adults with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders. Patients and families come to National Jewish Health from around the world to receive cutting-edge, comprehensive, coordinated care. To learn more, visit the media resources page.

We have many faculty members, from bench scientists to clinicians, who can speak on almost any aspect of respiratory, immune, cardiac and gastrointestinal disease as well as lung cancer and basic immunology.

Our team is available to arrange interviews, discuss events and story ideas.

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