An article by Johns Hopkins researchers published in the BMJ, the British Medical Journal, suggests that patients using the Respimat tiotropium soft mist inhaler for the treatment of COPD are 52% more likely to die than those inhaling a placebo from a soft mist inhaler.
“What we think is going on is that the mist inhaler is delivering a higher concentration of tiotropium than it should be and that may be increasing the risk of death,” says lead author Sonal Singh, assistant professor of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The increased deaths were attributed primarily to heart problems.
Singh also expressed concern as to the safety of tiotropium in any form for COPD patients. The soft mist inhaler is approved in 55 countries but not in the US. In the US, only the dry powder version of the product, the Spriva DPI, is approved. Both are marketed by Boehringer Ingelheim.
Read the BMJ abstract.
Read the Johns Hopkins press release.
