Famotidine was marketed in the United States (US) in 1986 by Merck & Co.,
Inc. under the brand name Pepcidâ (a registered
trademark of Merck & Co., Inc.). Famotidine blocks the histamine-2 receptor. The
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) originally approved famotidine for the
treatment of adults with gastrointestinal conditions such as peptic ulcer
disease, esophagitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD (also known as
esophageal reflux; associated with "heartburn"). It has been available
over-the-counter in the US since 1995; "over-the-counter" means that a
prescription is not required. After the US patent expired, generic forms of
famotidine became available in the US in 2001. A generic drug has the same
active chemical (famotidine), but it is made by a different company, and cannot
be sold under the original company’s brand name. Merck still markets it’s brand
name "Pepcid," but other companies now sell generic famotidine.
Dr. Linday first conceived the idea that treatment with famotidine might be
helpful for children with autistic spectrum disorders in 1993. By 1995, Dr.
Linday had identified her collaborators, and was able to begin the
time-consuming work of writing protocols, obtaining approval from the
Institutional Review Board, submitting the research to the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), writing grants, and identifying children for the studies.
Subjects (patients) were active in the research studies from 1996 through 1998.
Dr. Linday presented portions of this research at two national medical meetings,
and the final paper was published in the Journal of Neural Transmission
in May 2001. Click Abstracts for the list of
publications/abstracts that have resulted from this research.
Merck & Co., Inc. donated the famotidine (Pepcidâ
) oral suspension used in this research. The research was supported in part by
the Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (Staten Island,
N.Y.), of the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental
Disabilities; the research was performed at this institution.
In the past, Dr. Linday has been contacted by numerous parents who wanted to
give famotidine to their child without the guidance of a physician. (As
discussed above, famotidine is available without a prescription in the US.)
Based on the information contained in the abstract, some of these families
grossly miscalculated the dose of famotidine, and one family would have given
their child FOUR TIMES the correct dose of famotidine. Furthermore, there is
always the possibility of an adverse reaction to a medication.
Dr. Linday is a physician (medical doctor; M.D.). According to current
medical practice, a physician may only prescribe for a person that he/she has
examined. If a physician has not examined a patient, the physician may not
prescribe a supplement or a medication for that patient whether by e-mail,
telephone or regular mail; this is true even if the supplement is available in a
health food store or the medication is available over-the-counter in a
drugstore. Recently, some medications have become available over the Internet,
but this is considered controversial.
Therefore, please DO NOT contact Dr. Linday requesting that she provide you
with the dose of famotidine for your child. The purpose of this web site is to
provide you with information that you can share with your child's prescribing
physician, so that you may decide together whether famotidine is an appropriate
treatment for your child.
DISCLAIMER: