Summary
The painkillers Vioxx and Celebrex, designed to be used by people at risk for gastrointestinal bleeding, were commonly prescribed for people who did not need these drugs, leading to questions of why doctors prescribed them so much. This is particularly disturbing after research that has shown that these two drugs increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Original source:
http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7398549
Details
The two popular painkillers Vioxx and Celebrex, heavily marketed as "super-aspirin," were prescribed for millions of patients who did not need them or should not have taken them, researchers said on Friday.
Merck & Co. Inc's Vioxx was recalled in September because a study linked the drug to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, while Pfizer's Celebrex is under a cloud after data showing a similar heightened risk.
The study by doctors at Stanford University and the University of Chicago found the two COX-2 inhibitors were taken by millions of people who were not at risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, the main reason patients were told to switch from aspirin and other lower-cost painkillers.
COX-2 inhibitors cost 10 to 15 times as much as the drugs they replaced, the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine said.
"We found a rapid, nationwide shift away from older, inexpensive drugs with better established safety and efficacy to newer, costly drugs with no real history," said study author G. Caleb Alexander, a medical ethicist at the University of Chicago.
Merck spent $161 million in 2000 on direct-to-consumer marketing of Vioxx, it said.
Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the study concluded that 73 percent of patients considered at low or very low risk of gastrointestinal problems should not have been considered for the newer drugs.
Gastrointestinal bleeding usually affects only at-risk patients who must take aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, for long periods, it said.
"The findings demonstrate the challenge of limiting innovative therapies to the settings in which they are initially targeted and maximally cost-effective," Alexander wrote.
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a passion for sharing empowering information to help improve personal and planetary health He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the CEO of a highly successful email newsletter software company that develops software used to send permission email campaigns to subscribers. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and martial arts training. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Friday, February 04, 2005
Email this article to a friend
Share
this article on: 
