Former Pharma Pitchman: Beware of New Drugs

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What about Bextra?
I was outside the United States while taking my U.S. great doctor's prescribed Bextra. I developed a very serious skin allergy while in a third world country. One of the doctors over there warned me not to fly as I was because I could die of a heart attack. Another said that he found parasytes in my stool that were unknown in their country. Finally the third world country doctor asked me to show him all the "great" american drugs that I was taken and he suggested for me to stop Bextra (a drug that he had never seen).
What would you think? A short time latter Bextra was found to cause a deadly skin reaction. Two third world doctors knew more than the money hungry American doctors.

Omar of TX 1:41PM September 19, 2008

Thank you for such an excellent article! No where does it say that 300,000 people a year died from Vioxx. I am reading "Poison Pills" by Mr. Nesi and it starts with the statement by Dr. David Graham of the FDA that the "Vioxx catastrophe" could have been avoided and that "100,000 Americans have paid dearly for that failure." That's the FDA in front of the Senate Finance Committee. The law suits against Vioxx started before Merck's own study showed it was dangerous to the heart. It was Merck's top scientists Dr. Peter Kim who took the drug off the market based solely on his safety concerns (according to Merck.) At any rate, found the article very compelling and hope everyone learns more.

Concerned Consumer of NJ 11:38AM September 19, 2008

I started taking Vioxx after an automobile accident to relieve arthritus pain. Stopped taking it after it was recalled and my doctor prescribed Cellebrex which I am still taking, Vioxx gave better pain relief, but Cellebrex is very good. I also have a heart condition, but my doctor has no reservations about my use of this familyn of drugs. If Merck did not recall Vioxx, the lawyers would not have gotten involved. All these deaths a year would have happened without Vioxx and they still do.

Philip Lowenstein of NJ 9:18AM September 19, 2008

http://www.naturalnews.com/009278.html
America was rudely awakened to a new kind of danger on September 11, 2001: Terrorism. The attacks that day left 2,996 people dead, including the passengers on the four commercial airliners that were used as weapons. Many feel it was the most tragic day in U.S. history.
Four commercial jets crashed that day. But what if six jumbo jets crashed every day in the United States, claiming the lives of 783,936 people every year? That would certainly qualify as a massive tragedy, wouldn't it?
Well, forget "what if." The tragedy is happening right now. Over 750,000 people actually do die in the United States every year, although not from plane crashes. They die from something far more common and rarely perceived by the public as dangerous: modern medicine.
According to the groundbreaking 2003 medical report Death by Medicine, by Drs. Gary Null, Carolyn Dean, Martin Feldman, Debora Rasio and Dorothy Smith, 783,936 people in the United States die every year from conventional medicine mistakes. That's the equivalent of six jumbo jet crashes a day for an entire year. But where is the media attention for this tragedy? Where is the government support for stopping these medical mistakes before they happen?
According to a 1995 U.S. iatrogenic report, "Over a million patients are injured in U.S. hospitals each year, and approximately 280,000 die annually as a result of these injuries. Therefore, the iatrogenic death rate dwarfs the annual automobile accident mortality rate of 45,000 and accounts for more deaths than all other accidents combined." This report was issued 10 years ago, when America had 34 million fewer citizens and drug company scandals like the Vioxx recall were yet to occur. Today, health care comprises 15.5 percent of the United States' gross national product, with spending reaching $1.4 trillion in 2004.
Since Americans spend so much money on health care, they should be getting a high quality of care, right? Unfortunately, that's not the case. Of the 783,936 annual deaths due to conventional medical mistakes, about 106,000 are from prescription drugs, according to Death by Medicine. That also is a conservative number. Some experts estimate it should be more like 200,000 because of underreported cases of adverse drug reactions.
That means that prescription drugs in this country are at least 16,400 percent deadlier than terrorism.

Jim of MO 11:07PM September 18, 2008

My wife took Vioxx as long as it was avilable. It was the most effective NSAID.She now takes one of ghe other NSAIDs.
300,000/400,000 deaths a year. Where do you get this mis-information?

Charles Weissgerber of PA 9:39PM September 18, 2008

Its to bad that the real men in the drug industry did not stand up until now. Thousands of peoples lives have changed because of the greed of the drug companys. My mother lost her life to the drug Vioxx. All the court cases in the world will never bring back a life that greed has taken away.
I hate it that the drug companys can go out get people on these drugs like candy and kill 300,000 or 400,000 people or more each and every year.
If they want to do the real testing on the product they should have every Doctor, drug rep,or anybody that makes a income from any and all drugs take them before any innocent people gets their hands on them. That should cut down on some of the problems with bad and unsafe drugs.

Jim Collins of MO 7:40PM September 18, 2008