Bextra, also known as Valdecoxib, was
approved by the FDA in 2001 for the treatment of pain, tenderness, and
swelling caused by osteoarthritis and adult rheumatoid arthritis. Bextra
is supposed to decrease your level of suffering, but for some people it
brought about a whole new range of problems.
Belonging to a class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
medications (NSAIDs) called COX-2 inhibitors, Bextra is a compound that
blocks the COX-2 enzyme, the prime cause of pain and inflammation in
arthritis. In some people, especially those with allergies to
sulfonamides, Bextra has shown far more dramatic side effects than first
believed to be capable of. Sadly, some of those side effects could prove
fatal.