New probe on arthritis drugs� safety

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The European Medicines Evaluation Agency have ordered a safety review of four powerful painkilling drugs amid fears that they could increase the risks of heart attacks and strokes (The Independent; Friday 22nd October 2004).

The review of the Cox-2 inhibitors class of drugs - used by 750,000 Britons to treat the pain of arthritis and other conditions - follows last month�s decision by Merck to remove Vioxx from worldwide sale after it was discovered that the drug almost doubled the risk of heart attacks and stroke in people who had been taking it for 18 months.

The US Food and Drug Administration suggested that Vioxx may have caused more than 27,000 heart attacks in the four years it had been on the market, of which 7,000 may have been fatal.

Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet described it as a �public health emergency� and said it raised �grievous questions about the adequacy of our drug regulatory system.�

Presumably Mr Horton doesn�t subscribe to What Doctors Don�t Tell You - if he did he would have known as far back as February 2000 that Vioxx�s common adverse reactions included �. . .abdominal pain, dizziness, fluid retention, hypertension, headache and itching. Uncommon reactions, reported by more than one in 1,000, included chest pains, acid reflux, constipation, oral ulcers, vomiting, tinnitus, weight gain, cramps, insomnia, vertigo, depression, and dermatitis.

More recently in our special report �Cox-2 drugs: a Pandora�s box of adverse effects� in April 2003 we flagged that �patients taking Vioxx are twice as likely to suffer a cardiovascular problem, such as heart attack, than those given an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug).�

. . .which begs the question: �Why did it take so long for the drugs companies and regulatory authorities to act?�

If you are taking a Cox-2 drug - or are unsure whether the painkillers you are taking fall into this category - then I strongly recommend you read this report. You can order this special report by clicking the link below.

Order here www.wddty.co.uk/shop/details.asp?product=374

For those of you who would like to have a complete analysis of arthritis � its causes, treatments and the effectiveness of alternative approaches � the WDDTY Arthritis Manual is a 100-page A4 publication which also includes 41 startling new discoveries we've unearthed about how you can beat arthritis - including 10-drug free methods to reduce pain instantly.

If you order the Arthritis Manual before the 1st November, we will also include the special report on Cox-2 drugs mentioned above, as well as our specially commissioned report on the best alternative pain relief products (which normally have a combined value of �10-20). Order here http://www.wddty.co.uk/shop/details.asp?product=366

OR CALL 0870 444 9886 (INTERNATIONAL +44 870 444 9886)

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