Hold on to your horses folks, yet another announcement from the FDA that the drugs that were once considered safe to use are now fraught with complications. Protopic and Elidel were approved in 2000 and 2001, respectively, to treat eczema, a common, chronic skin condition that causes redness and itching. Now, a handful of cases of cancer have been reported among adults and children using the creams, and animal and laboratory studies suggest the drugs could be to blame, according to a new Food and Drug Administration analysis.
A study involving monkeys has suggested the creams might cause lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system, and reports of a variety of cancers in humans using the creams have continued to rise. At least seven cases of lymphoma have been reported, as well as at least seven cases of skin cancer and a handful of others.
This is particularly tragic as eczema (atopic dermatitis) is very common, yet it is one of the absolutely easiest conditions to treat once you understand human biology. Simple shifts like including beneficial fats, the removal of grains and sugars from the diet and the addition of simple sunlight are frequently all that is needed to normalize this common condition.
It's about time the public starts to wake up and treating their conditions with therapies that address the cause rather than relying on expensive band-aids that invariably seem to cause serious complications.
Washington Post February 12, 2005