US regulators have warned of the potential risk to newborn babies associated with Roche’s antibiotic Rocephin when combined with calcium or calcium-containing products.

The US Food and Drug Administration noted that the warning has been issued, and Roche has written to health care professionals in the USA, on Rocephin (ceftriaxone) following reports of an unspecified number of cases of fatal reactions in the lungs and kidneys of both premature and newborn babies. The drug is approved to treat bacterial septicemia, urinary tract infections and acute ear infections, as well as gonorrhoea and other infections.

The Swiss company has now revised the label on the antibiotic about the dangers of administering calcium within 48 hours of using Rocephin.