A new drug to treat potentially fatal rattlesnake bites will be tested starting this week.
The currently-used drug, known by brand name CroFab and developed at the University of Arizona, can put patients at risk for a relapse of venom poisoning in the weeks after treatment.
The new drug, called Antivipmyn, hasn't shown evidence of that risk in patients who have been using the drug for two years in Mexico, said Dr. Gary Figge, emergency physician at Northwest Medical Center, one of three Tucson hospitals preparing to test it.
Antivipmyn also appears more effective for preventing the hemorrhaging that untreated rattlesnake venom can cause.
The study is being led by the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center at the University of Arizona. It handles more snakebite cases than any other poison center in the country, about 300 a year.
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