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Who tests these drugs before they go on the market? They have to be aware of the problems..do they just do a cost/benefit analysis??

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The tests conducted on these medications could not have revealed these problems. As soon as they were identified, full notification occurred.

You might be astounded to discover the true risk of aspirin (and other over-the-counter and prescription NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs)).

http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/bo...nsae/nsae.html

The risk of dying from a GI-bleed due to NSAID use can be as high as 1 in 647 users, but that is age-related. (See Table 7)

The absolute risk, as deaths per 100,000 population in the U.S., is a little more than 6. (See Figure 6) And, it doesn't include fatalities due to other direct causes, such as hepatotoxic overdose. And yet, many of these drugs remain OTC.

Under current regulatory guidelines, aspirin could not be approved, if it was a new medication. Liver poisoning by tylenol, especially when taken while the body is exposed to alcohol, is exceedingly commonplace. Children, in particular, die of tylenol poisoning all the time, despite the existence of pediatric liquid formulations.

I think that this is simply a case of focussed attention. What seems to be missing from the press reports is a really important bit of information. All of the Vioxx heart risk occurs in a group of patients who were taking the drug at doses above that approved by the FDA. If Vioxx was being used as directed, there is no increased risk. The same goes for Celebrex. Only those patients exceeding the recommended dose are at risk. Moreover, the length of time on the excessive dose is another variable. It takes prolonged overdose to increase the heart risk. Somehow, the overdose issue never made it into the newspapers. It could be that the sickest people were put on the highest doses, and that sickness alone was responsible for these differences in cardiac mortality.

If you want a cheap and effective COX-2 inhibitor, just take a spoonful of turmeric in water. It tastes a little weird, but it works wonderfully. In my experience, one heaping teaspoonful of turmeric is more effective than 50 mg Vioxx for my joint pain. The active ingredient is curcumin. I've even seen curcumin tablets at my drug store.

Lar