The FDA has announced that all protease inhibitors (PIs) used to treat HIV require new warnings about possible drug interactions. It has long been known that the body absorbs and uses PIs along the same pathway many other drugs use. This could interfere with the blood levels of one or more of the meds. Raising the level of a drug brings risk of increasing side effects; lowering it risks making the medication less potent or even totally ineffective.

Now there is an expanded list of drugs that should be avoided (or used with care) by people who take an HIV combo that includes a PI. Several meds for pulmonary hypertension and asthma, for example, are on the list. For information about some of the medications involved and the new details to be included in PI package inserts, search “interaction warnings” at poz.com.  

And: A recent British study found that people living with HIV experience many drug-drug interactions and that physicians often fail to recognize them. Go to Check My Meds at poz.com/cmm to avoid all drug interactions. It’s a “Cool Tool” that should become your new cool habit.