Who will protect your rights when a dangerous drug hurts you?

Were you a drug safety test subject and did not know it? Millions of your fellow citizens, your parents, sons and daughters paid for prescription medications known to be risky, dangerous and or inadequately warned of the serious adverse reactions indicated by studies. As early as 2000, Merck, the maker of Vioxx appears to have perpetrated a consumer deception regarding the safety of their product. Internal e-mails recently published by The Wall Street Journal in November 2004, indicated that Merck tried to hide the cardio vascular risks associated with Vioxx. The Wall Street Journal wrote,

On April 7, 2005 Bextra, produced by Pfizer was pulled from the market because in addition to the higher risk of cardio vascular problems like heart attacks and strokes, it produced a rare and sometimes fatal disease called Stevens Johnson Syndrome.

How does it feel to be the victims who have the rare skin reaction Stevens Johnson Syndrome? Mrs. Tomasa Estrada, a 42-year-old wife and mother was prescribed Bextra and developed Stevens Johnson Syndrome. Mrs. Estrada thought she was "going to die" while hospitalized with this condition after she gained a great deal of weight from swelling all over her body. Estrada now feels mentally and emotionally devastated and worries about her family and herself. She still remains unsure about how long she will have to deal with SJS problems which she believes were caused by her Bextra use. Her doctor told her many important functions inside her body had shut down and that her body was only recently coming out of this shock. Her doctor said that she was lucky to be alive.

Juanita Gates, age 60, took Bextra and suffered several "mini heart attacks" and recently a stroke. While suffering from arthritic pain she was prescribed Celebrex in 2001 and then Bextra in 2003. Around 2004, she suffered "mini heart attacks", and luckily she had nitroglycerine to treat these symptoms. Following a recent stroke, she now has lost about 75 percent of vision in her right eye. She is outraged because greed clouded the judgment of big Parm as they inadequately tested and marketed these drugs. The companies were pushing these drugs "like candy" she scornfully intones, lamenting the harm she struggles with now.

William Shiel, MD, Chief Medical Editor for WebMD reviewed the studies and stated Cox-2 inhibitors are not better for pain relief than older, traditional anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen. He stated, "Clinical research has shown that the Cox-2 inhibitors are essentially equivalent to traditional anti-inflammatory drugs in effectiveness. Improved effectiveness has never been the point of these medications, nor have their respective manufacturers marketed them for that purpose."

Source: http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/101/106005.htm?pagenumber=2