Bristol-Myers Squibb Withdraws Serzone in Sweden

Netherlands Medicine Assessments Board Investigating Serzone

Bristol-Myers Squibb, the manufacturer of Serzone (nefazodone), has voluntarily withdrawn Serzone from the market in Sweden. Serzone is sold under the name Dutonin (nefazadon) in European countries.

Serzone has been responsible for 26 cases of liver failure worldwide, as well as some deaths.

A spokesman for the Dutch Medicine Assessments Board, known as the College ter Beoordeling van Geneesmiddelen (CBG) in the Hague, says the board considered pulling the drug from the market but has decided against it at this time since the antidepressant's drug label already carries advisories and strong warnings on its use. The board announced in November 2002 that it plans to investigate Dutonin, also sold in the U.S. as Serzone.

In the U.S., the National Institute of Health's Library of Medicine warns that:

If your liver does not function well, due to liver problems or liver disease and you take nefazodone, the amount of nefazodone in your blood may be too high. This may cause serious disease or damage in your liver.