3 More Drugs Show Dangerous Side Effects

[MaryH]

Just coming across on Reuters: Celebrex can cause heart problems like Vioxx did.

AstraZeneca reported that its lung cancer drug Iressa had failed to help patients live longer.

Eli Lilly is adding a warning to its Stattera - not for people with liver problems.

I wonder where this will end. And will they get the bill passed in time so that these drug companies cannot be sued for huge amounts?

[shoelace414]

1. We need some type

of a Federal Drug Administration to keep drugs safe.

and perhaps criminal charges for knowingly unsafe drugs

[MaryH]

2. 60 Minutes had another report on last nite where they talked

to several ex-FDA doctors who had been forced to lie about drugs. Or at least not report that they had some problems endorsing the drugs.

[napi21]

11. I saw the 60 Min program. It was great.

I have to say, the FDA sure has changed in recent years. I worked for a vitamin manufacturer, and they are far less regulated than the pharmaceutical drug houses are, but we shook in our boots when the FDA spoke! They did surprise inspections all the time, refused your documentation for things so incidental as commas and periods missing, and literally had no flexibility on their decisions.

Must be what happens when we change to a Corporate Run Society!

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Gee, Imagine If We Imported From Canada!

Our FDA says that without their assurance, Canadian drugs might be bad! Good to know we're in incredibly competent hands.
The Professor

[WildClarySage]

3. Fucking Strattera

I took that shit for two months and all I got out of it was wild mood swings and irritability. Then, after I started doing the research, I found out it was developed to be an SSRI which didn't actually work, so they started testing it to see what it would do, and eventually marketed it as an ADD drug. I wish I'd known that before I started taking it. The side effects stopped as soon as I quit taking it, but that was a nice chunk of change dropped for a drug that did nothing but make me a real flying bitch.

[indigobusiness]

5. Glad you're back

to your old sweet self.

[WildClarySage]

9. Thanks-

[derby378]

19. I've always been suspicious about Strattera

When Strattera first came out, it was accompanied by medical journal articles touting its effectiveness in treating ADHD symptoms, but they all came with a disclaimer that Eli Lilly had something to do with the reviews, whether by giving the doctors grant money or by some other means.

I'm afraid you and I are stuck with CNS stimulants for the time being unless some stem-cell researcher finds a breakthrough...

[napi21]

4. It diesn't sound like the Lilly drug is a problem.

There are lots of drugs that cannot be taken by people with liver problems. All the statin drugs to control colesterol have warnings, and patients who are taking them must have a blood test every 3-6 months to make sure the drug isn't affecting the liver function.

Adding this warning to Stattera isn't the same as Vioxx or Celebrex that appear to cause heart attacks and strokes.

[taught_me_patience]

6. celebrex

Although there are health concerns regarding its safety with heart health, really increases the quality of life for a lot of people.

We need to weigh the pros and cons of each drug before condeming them. If the FDA weren't so slow in its approval process and so quick to condemn drugs that have a chance of side effects, companies wouldn't have as much incentive to lie about findings to get their drugs approved. Let's just have some honest for once.

taught.

[NorthernSpy]

7. "Iressa" sounds like one of the executed Romanovs

And Strattera sounds like a pasta dish. How do they name these things?

The FDA doesn't seem quite up to the challenge of protecting the us from dangerous pharmaceuticals. Lately, they've mostly been protecting the industry from the spectre of lower profit margins, or so one would think.

[kostya]

10. Celebrex story is getting overblown

One study said there was a problem (with patients taking 4 times the normal dose!), another said no problem. People are just nervous after the blowout for Merck and Vioxx, but the situation is substantially different with Celebrex. People nervous = feeding frenzy for the press. ALL drugs have side-effects. Doctors and patients have to weight the pros and cons. - K

[idiosyncratic]

12. Bextra is also being mentioned, but that stuff really worked

when I took it for a really, really bad, extremely painful case of tendonitis.

[Ms. Clio]

14. Bextra really works for my plantar fasciites, too

Whereas Celebrex had a really unpleasant side effect.

Interesting how the same "class" of drugs can work so differently in different people.

[idiosyncratic]

15. I cannot take the usual pain meds, except aspirin, without side

effects. That is why Bextra was such a blessing for me. All it did was take away the pain in my ankle.

My brain was still able to function "normally." :-)

[Ms. Clio]

16. I didn't really try anything other than the Celebrex and then the Bextra

So I don't know how I would react to other pain meds, but the Advil just wasn't doing the job, unless I took way too much, too often.

In my case, it wasn't my brain that wasn't able to function normally! :) But once I stopped taking the Celebrex, the problem completely disappeared.

[Royal Observer]

13. It will never end

All drugs have risks. Common drugs like aspirin and Tylenol have caused death.
http://snipurl.com/bfx8

[wicket]

17. Isn't deregulation a wonderful thing???

:puke:

[Liberal Veteran]

18. Want to talk about potential liver damage: TYLENOL!

It has a very low threshold for causing liver damage.

AND NEVER EVER mix alcohol and tylenol. It makes it that much more likely to cause liver damage.