Do I have a Celebrex Case?

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen?s Health Research Group, talking about Public Citizen?s new book, Worst Pills, Best Pills
March 29, 2005 07:41

Tune in to ABC?s Good Morning America on Wednesday morning to see Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen?s Health Research Group, talking about Public Citizen?s new book, Worst Pills, Best Pills, which provides comprehensive information about 538 prescription drugs and warns of 181 drugs that are unsafe or ineffective.

The book is particularly valuable because Dr. Wolfe has a strong track record of identifying dangerous drugs well before federal regulators take action to ban or put warnings on these drugs. For example, in April 2001, Dr. Wolfe warned consumers not to take Vioxx because it increases the risk of heart attack. But it wasn?t until last fall that Merck pulled the drug from shelves, citing its increased heart attack risk.

Vioxx was the ninth prescription drug to be taken off the market in the past seven years that Public Citizen had previously warned consumers not to use. For four of the drugs - Vioxx, Baycol, Rezulin and Serzone - Public Citizen issued warnings more than two years before their removal from the market. Similarly, Public Citizen warned patients not to use Celebrex three and a half years before the government announced that a study showed it increased heart risks.

On Good Morning America, Dr. Wolfe will discuss problems with the drug approval process, explain how dangerous prescription drugs get onto the market and tell viewers why neither the government nor drug manufacturers are responsive when alerted to serious adverse effects of a drug. He will tell viewers about a Web site that accompanies the book, (www.WorstPills.org), which contains the contents of the book in a user-friendly, searchable database format.

Good Morning America comes on at 7 a.m. on ABC.