Don't Be Fooled By Alternatives to Banned Drugs

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http://www.mercola.com/2005/apr/9/banned_drugs.htm

 

Don't Be Fooled By Alternatives to Banned Drugs

 

Safety concerns surrounding certain prescription drugs have brought

other, less popular, drugs into a more favorable light. Drug companies

often attempt to gain new market share after " market events " like the

withdrawal of Vioxx, but with so many drugs' safety in question these

days, drugmakers have a unique window of opportunity to gain new

customers.

 

In the case of the previously little-known painkiller Mobic, it got

almost twice its typical share of new U.S. arthritis prescriptions

after the COX-2 painkillers Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra were surrounded

with fears of heart side effects. After Vioxx went off the market,

Boehringer, the maker of Mobic, ran ads suggesting that patients talk

to their doctors about alternative painkillers, including Mobic.

 

Since then, Mobic's fortune appeared to change:

 

*

 

Over 4 percent of new arthritis prescriptions were for Mobic in

the week Vioxx was recalled, rising to 8 percent in later weeks and as

high as 9.4 percent in February 2005 (until testimony by Food and Drug

Administration scientist David Graham suggested that Mobic might

present the same safety concerns as the other COX-2s).

*

 

Mobic sales hit $258 million in the fourth quarter of 2004, up

176 percent from the same quarter a year earlier.

 

Meanwhile, prescription-strength ibuprofen also gained market share.

However, when consumers switch from COX-2s to other painkillers like

ibuprofen or aspirin, they run the risk of stomach ulcers. Makers of

ulcer drugs Nexium and Prevacid highlighted this fact in ads as they

tried to use the other drugs' downfall to boost their own sales.

 

Certain multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs may also soon be presented with

an opportunity to gain market share, as the FDA reported that Biogen's

leading MS drug Avonex should carry a stronger warning about liver

risk. The second leading MS drug, Copaxone, doesn't have the same

risk, and its maker, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, e-mailed

journalists to highlight this fact.

 

USA Today March 24, 2005

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

I am delighted that we finally seem to be making some progress in

putting the spotlight on the dangers of many of drugs and that some

have been taken off the market or relabeled by the FDA with black box

warnings in recent months. However, the danger here is that many have

simply replaced one poison--in this case a toxic drug like Vioxx or

Celebrex--for something else that's potentially just as dangerous?

 

Rather than seeking natural alternatives, many sought " safer " drugs so

the pain reliever Mobic has doubled its market share since last fall

when Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra were connected with cardiovascular

problems. Mobic's drugmakers, Boehringer Ingelheim and Abbott

Laboratories, used a strategy very similar to the one used by

AstraZeneca and TAP Pharmaceutical Products to drive demand for

Prevacid and Nexium, to up demand for their own painkilling drug.

 

Fortunately, one of the leading crusaders for public safety at the

FDA, Dr. David Graham, had a hand in slowing down Mobic's growth,

however. His testimony, criticizing Mobic during a February FDA panel

as potentially having the same effect as Vioxx and the other COX-2

inhibitors, cooled the surge of new prescriptions that were calling

for Mobic.

 

While it's prudent for people to switch medications after safety

concerns surface, what most folks don't yet fully appreciate is that

every prescription drug carries with it a risk of side effects some

that may not yet have been acknowledged by the FDA.

 

Many still don't seem to understand that the problem is not with the

drug but with the entire flawed concept that seeks to make a profit by

supplying a band aid solution that does not address the underlying

cause of the problem. Ignoring this cause inevitably comes back to the

haunt the person with even more serious consequences as they failed to

heed the early warnings their body was giving them.

 

So switching medications is often like settling for the lesser of two

evils. If you're looking for safer, saner alternatives to toxic drugs

that promote better health and healing, I strongly urge you review my

seven anti-inflammatory alternatives that also protect your heart.

 

Related Articles:

 

Can You Trust the FDA

 

Finally -- FDA Admits That ALL Anti-Inflammatories May Kill You

 

How the Drug Companies Deceive You -- The Inside Story of Nexium