Ototoxic Drugs

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady asked: Have you ever heard of epidurals used during labor and delivery being ototoxic? The reason I ask is because I met a woman whose child was born deaf 6 months ago. She had received 4 different epidurals during her labor and delivery because none of them seemed to […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man asked: It seems like everyone is getting vaccinated with the Twinrix Hepatitis virus vaccine. Do you know how safe it is? Does it affect hearing? I have no information indicating Twinrix causes hearing loss. However, it can cause dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus and middle ear pain–so you might want to […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady asked: I found on your web site a statement about Maxalt causing ataxia. Do you have any idea how long it can last? This is one of the mysteries of ototoxic drugs—just how long an side effect will last. Some side effects only appear while you are taking the […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A parent asked: Can you please tell me if the antibiotic “Bactrim” is known to be ototoxic? My son was prescribed this medication because of an exposure to whooping cough.” Bactrim (Trimethoprim) is somewhat ototoxic. It is not known to cause hearing loss, but it can cause tinnitus (ringing in the […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man asked: I just wanted to find out how much a 250 microgram (mcg) dose of Xanax (Alprazolam) compares with a 1 milligram (mg) tablet of Valium (Diazepam). I can’t seem to work this out! It’s quite easy. There are 1,000 micrograms (mcg) in a milligram (mg), so 4 x […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. More often than I care to remember, I receive correspondence from people whose ears have been seriously and permanently damaged from blindly taking the ototoxic drugs prescribed by their doctors. Doctors are not infallible and do make mistakes. Furthermore, there are good doctors and bad doctors as the following story attests. […]