There was a question about a doctor who wouldn't prescribe Diflucan
for thrush because of the possibility of liver damage.  The
suggestion was made to contact Pfizer so I had a look at their web
site.  This is what I found.

Pfizer's web site is:
http://www.pfizer.com/main.html

There page on diflucan
http://www.pfizer.com/kpw/well/PI's/diflucanpi.html
has this to say:

"Hepatobiliary: In combined clinical trials and marketing
experience, there
           have been rare cases of serious hepatic reactions during
treatment with
           DIFLUCAN. (See WARNINGS.) The spectrum of these hepatic
reactions
           has ranged from mild transient elevations in
transaminases to clinical
           hepatitis, cholestasis and fulminant hepatic failure,
including fatalities.
           Instances of fatal hepatic reactions were noted to occur
primarily in patients
           with serious underlying medical conditions (predominantly
AIDS or
           malignancy) and often while taking multiple concomitant
medications.
           Transient hepatic reactions, including hepatitis and
jaundice, have occurred
           among patients with no other identifiable risk factors.
In each of these cases,
           liver function returned to baseline on discontinuation of
DIFLUCAN."

"Nursing Mothers
           Fluconazole is secreted in human milk at concentrations
similar to plasma.
           Therefore, the use of DIFLUCAN in nursing mothers is not
recommended."

"Experience with DIFLUCAN in neonates is limited to pharmacokinetic
           studies in premature newborns. (See CLINICAL
PHARMACOLOGY.)
           Based on the prolonged half-life seen in premature
newborns (gestational
           age 26 to 29 weeks), these children, in the first two
weeks of life, should
           receive the same dosage (mg/kg) as in older children, but
administered every
           72 hours. After the first two weeks, these children
should be dosed once
           daily. No information regarding DIFLUCAN pharmacokinetics
in full-term
           newborns is available"

--
Janet Vandenberg, RN, BScN,
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
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