FDA warns of potential complications from Vivitrol

WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration has reported that almost 200 patients who received the alcoholism drug Vivitrol have experienced complications, according to Reuters.

The drug, marketed by Alkermes and known generically as naltrexone, has been linked to abscesses requiring surgical drainage, swelling, pain, bleeding and other complications in 196 patients.

An extended-release version of a drug marketed by Cephalon, Vivitrol received FDA approval to treat alcoholism in 2006. Vivitrol had sales of $4.8 million in the first quarter of this year, according to Alkermes financial data.