People with liver problems should not take the antibiotic Ketek, Health Canada advised on Tuesday.

Ketek, or telithromycin, has been used to treat pneumonia, throat and sinus infections and chronic bronchitis, as well as other infections that are difficult to treat.

There have been international reports of patients using Ketek who experienced liver failure.

Last month, U.S. researchers reported one patient who died and a second needed a liver transplant.

A third recovered from hepatitis (inflammation of the liver), once the antibiotic treatment was stopped, researchers wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

No similar cases have been reported in Canada, where the drug has been marketed since May 2003.

The department is currently reviewing cases of less severe liver problems in Canada, as well as safety information for the drug.

In the meantime, Health Canada warns doctors and patients to be on the look out for jaundice – yellowing of the eyes or skin – and other symptoms of liver problems, such as:

• Loss of appetite.
• Dark urine.
• Pale stools.
• Itching or abdominal pain.

People who have been prescribed Ketek and are not suffering these side-effects should keep taking the medicine, unless a health-care provider says otherwise, the department said.