Tweaking Treatment

Ever wondered what the top reason is for switching from an initial antiretroviral regimen? Turns out it's the adverse side effects linked to the medications, according to a study of more than 3,400 U.S. HIV patients by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute. More than 600 of the patients changed their first-line treatment because of toxicity issues. Other common reasons to change medications included noncompliance, treatment failure, high pill burden, and poor viral control, say the researchers. Reason for Stopping: Percentage Reporting ''Drug toxicity: 18.4% ''Noncompliance: 13.4% ''Treatment failure: 7.5% Source: HIV Medicine