Public Citizen's Health Research Group - A good place to learn about bad drugs

Public Citizen's Health Research Group in Washington has a web site, WorstPills.Org where consumers can read about pills without any hype from the pharmaceutical manufactuers. In the wake of Vioxx, Baycol, Resulin and other bad drugs, this is important. Consumers should learn as much as they can about what they are putting in their bodies. With the internet, this is something that the average person can do very effectively.

For example, as early as April 2001, Public Citizen warned consumers not to use Vioxx. This certainly saved the lives of many people who listened to this advice.

According to Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's health group, "Our job as we see it is to stay up with the latest information... Who's going to alert them? The drug companies don't alert them. The FDA has fallen down on the job alerting them."

Wolfe does not blame doctors either. They are "they're trying to do whatever they can do" but are often misled by the pharma industry and can not simply rely on the FDA.

And in terms of the real rising cost of health care, Public Citizen points out that these new drugs are over promoted and over-priced and in many cases less safe and no more effective that older OTC drugs. For example, according to Public Citizen, "an elderly person who has osteoarthritis and no insurance covering prescription drugs" whose doctor, "writes a prescription for celecoxib (CELEBREX) or rofecoxib (VIOXX), or another NSAID, ... in a month, ... at CVS Pharmacy thge costs is is $89.59. ... If the prescription was written for generic ibuprofen at its maximum recommended dose enough tablets for a month would cost $18.59 at the same pharmacy."

In the example, "our elderly patient pays $71 a month more, ($852 a year more) for a drug that is no more effective for osteoarthritis, no safer on the GI tract, and perhaps less safe on the heart than ibuprofen. This is what happens when big drug companies are allowed into our medicine cabinets and push us to choose the drugs we use by advertising that is sometimes false and misleading."

When we look at the "rising cost of healthcare" we need look no further than the huge profits being taken by big pharma for drugs that the public just does not need.

Public Citizen recommends people stay away from these drugs.

Michael@Monheit.com

Michael Monheit, Esquire

http://www.monheit.com