Rita M. Schuman Gregory J. Matz Drug-induced inner ear damage is a common finding in present-day medical practice. In many developing countries, where drugs such as the aminoglycosides are frequently prescribed to treat pneumonia, diarrhea, and tuberculosis, the incidence of ototoxicity is high (1). Physicians in practice need to recognize that ototoxic drugs can cause significant auditory and in many instances, poorly recognized, vestibular toxicity. Physicians therefore need to be cognizant of the many categories of drugs that produce ototoxicity. Early examples of drug ototoxicity are arsenic, the salicylates, and quinine. Salicylates, for example, administered in doses in excess of 2,700 mg a day, once commonly used to treat arthritis, were found to cause a transient flat, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus. There has never been a case of permanent hearing loss following salicylate use in therapeutic drug dosing; however, most patients experience complete reversal wi...
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