Senior citizens are the largest group of arthritis suffers in America. Arthritis is a condition that affects the bone joints of the human body. Arthritis is actually a family of related diseases that include rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis - autoimmune diseases; septic arthritis brought about by joint infection; and osteoarthritis which is a degenerative joint disease. Arthritis can be brought about by repetitive stress or movement, significant injuries and, unlike the autoimmune arthritic strains; osteoarthritis largely affects the elderly and results from joint cartilage degeneration.
When Cox-2 Inhibitors like Vioxx came on the market, it was thought that they would bring relief and aid to millions of elderly American arthritis sufferers. COX-2 inhibitors are NSAID drugs, also known as non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs. Commonplace NSAIDs include over the counter medications like ibuprofen and naproxen and they are primarily used to reduce swelling for an injury or throughout the body. They are widely used by arthritis sufferers as an effective arthritis treatment to manage pain. The work by blocking an enzyme called COX-2, but when a classic NSAID drug blocks COX-2 enzymes, they simultaneously block enzyme COX-1. COX-1 is an enzyme that works to protect the stomach lining, so when it is no longer functional, it causes major stomach irritation. This is an aggravating side effect of older NSAIDs and since the COX-2 inhibitors only block COX-2, leaving COX-1 enzymes intact to protect the stomach, it was thought that COX-2 inhibitors would be immensely successful.
Unfortunately, the side effects were actually very dangerous and easily outweighed the benefits they may have offered as an arthritis treatment. In fact, in a McGill University Health Centre study, researched identified that the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx, specifically, created a significantly increased risk of heart attack in elderly patients, even those patients with no previous risk of heart attack.
A number of other negative studies linking Vioxx and many thousands of patient deaths were released soon after the drug was pulled from the market. In one study more than 25,000 sudden heart related deaths were tied to Vioxx. The FDA had warned that some patients taking Vioxx had a 50 % higher rate of heart attacks and the study also found that patients taking the highest recommended daily dosage of Vioxx had three times the risk of heart attack over patients not taking the drug or the specified dosage.
Although Vioxx was pulled from the market in September of 2004, there are other Cox 2 Inhibitors available on the market and there is still cause for concern that these medications are dangerous to seniors. Elderly patients should consult their physicians before beginning taking any COX-2 inhibitor for treatment of arthritis and should be closely monitored once they are taking the medication to ensure that there are no harmful side effects.
If you have been injured by improper arthritic treatment and you suspect you may be the victim of medical malpractice, you should contact an attorney. Defective drugs present a wide health risk to the public and if you have been the victim of a drug defect you deserve compensation so you should contact a medical malpractice attorney.