Context

Azithromycin, a widely used broad-spectrum macrolide antibiotic, belongs to the same class of antibiotics as erythromycin and clarithromycin, both of which have been associated with an increased risk of potentially lethal arrhythmias. Azithromycin has generally been viewed as ‘safe’ from a cardiovascular standpoint, but recently several reports of azithromycin-associated QT interval prolongation have been published. In an effort to ascertain whether azithromycin carries any cardiovascular risk, Ray et al evaluated the effect of its use on risk of death in a large Tennessee Medicaid cohort.