Basic information on the four HIV protease inhibitors approved in the U.S. has been published in a fold-out brochure by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, entitled The Protease Inhibitors Backgrounder .
Copies are available without charge.
The current edition, last updated in October, includes information on dosage, relation to food, storage requirements, warnings and precautions, most frequent adverse effects, pediatric use, medications that should not be used with each protease inhibitor, and drug interactions requiring dose adjustment. Some information on dosing when using two protease inhibitors simultaneously is provided in this section. The reading level is appropriate for medical staff or informed patients. Failure to follow instructions for use of drugs is a major problem in medicine, and the consequences are especially serious with HIV treatments, particularly protease inhibitors. Sometimes the instructions are not followed because the patient never understood them.