Word: vioxx
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Becky Long, 63, of Tampa, Fla., has been taking the prescription drug Celebrex for her arthritis for the past two years. So when she heard the news last week that the drug, along with another painkiller called Vioxx, might be associated with an increased risk of heart attack, she called her doctor right away. Her biggest concern was not what you might expect, however. "The first thing I thought of was that Celebrex gave me my life back," says Long, who used to find climbing stairs impossible but has since felt well enough to travel to Nepal. "What would...
Long is not the only one asking questions. Patients with a variety of concerns have been flooding physicians' phone lines with inquiries about Celebrex and Vioxx, two examples of a heavily advertised new class of analgesics called COX-2 inhibitors that are supposed to be easier on the stomach than aspirin. Some folks wanted to discontinue their medication; others just needed to hear that the potential cardiac threat was only theoretical and not proved...
...idea that Alzheimer's might be at least somewhat preventable--if not by mental gymnastics, then by chemistry--has attracted lots of interest. The National Institute on Aging launched a research trial to see if anti-inflammatory drugs, such as naproxen or the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx, can delay onset. Another study compares the Alzheimer's drug Aricept with vitamin E to see if the latter can ease cognitive problems. But these are all preliminary explorations of intriguing clues and don't yet apply to everyday life...