Local anesthetics side effects are covered in the March 2009 edition of FDA’s Patient Safety News. The agency’s concern is that after a study published in the the journal Radiology in which the authors suggest the use of topical anesthetics to reduce disconfort during mammography, more and more women will start using them without being warned about side effects such as: cardiac arrythmias, seizures, respiratory depression, coma and even death.
Further information:
Premedication to Reduce Discomfort during Screening Mammography. Radiology, July 2008