Vioxx. Celebrex. Now Aleve. What's a Patient to Think?

NY Times ^ | December 28, 2004 | ANAHAD O'CONNOR

[marty60]

Yeah I have osteoarthritis in my spine, plus a herniated s disk. I took 3000mgs of aspirin a day, sometimes more, till I finally went to the Rhuematologist. He cooked up a cocktail that stops my pain. Now I get shots in my back every couple of months.

TO ALL WHO DON'T HAVE BACK PROBLEMS; TAKE CARE OF YOUR BACK.

[douglas1]

MY father inlaw was stubborn too ,he lived his life in pain .

[virgil]

Pain is a stressor that can increase the risk of heart attack. FYI

[virgil]

i heard that Certo and grape juice works for arthritis

[virgil]

They spend 20 years obsessing over little details like spelling errors and such. They need to decide if the drug works and if it is safe.

[virgil]

Drug companies will get approval for a drug for one disease, then later get approval for more diseases by doing additional post-market studies. I think it was with Celebrex that they found the problems during a study to get approval for Celebrex to be indicated for treatment of COLON POLYPS. The dosage was 2x that for arthritis.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Arthritis dosage is 100 mgs, sometimes 200 mgs. They were using 400 and 800 mg. dosing. The cardiac effects were a bit more pronounced at the 800 mg dosing, but still a very small number of people.

What they need to learn is why some people have this effect.

[varina davis]

My doctor recommended I give my teenage son aspirin for his headaches. Aspirin works great on arthritis, too. If it bothers his stomach, he can take a coated or buffered brand. No one touts aspirin anymore because it's old news and remarkably cheap. But, it still works.

That's the truth! Everytime in my life I've been told to take a prescription medicine for pain, the side effects were miserable. I've relied on Bufferin for decades and it's never let me down.

[steve8714]

1-2% of the population us similarly sensitive and will present symptoms. My best wishes for her speedy recovery.

[HonestConservative]

YOu are correct, doc. Quality of life is everything. Vioxx could have remained available with label changes that resulted in a tighter market.

Nothing like pain to give you all the perspective you will every need.

[NittanyLion]

Quality of life is everything. Vioxx could have remained available with label changes that resulted in a tighter market.

Unfortunately, the present state of the legal system proves that label claims are no obstacle to lawsuits and huge payouts. If we're going to allow patients to make an informed decision and accept some risks, they can't go back and litigate foreseeable side effects.