Merck Inspired Me

Today I found out that Merck is going to pay $4.85 BILLION in settlements because of it’s “blockbuster” painkiller, VIOXX. I was more than a little appalled, but not at all surprised, that so many people had taken the drug and it took so long to get it off the market. In my own experience with doctors and prescriptions, I’ve learned that you can’t trust a doctor’s prescription pad. He or she may have ulterior motives for wanting you to take what they’re offering. I’m especially wary after the last couple of doctor’s that I’ve seen really pushed medicines on me that I didn’t want and wouldn’t benefit me (especially because of my bad reactions to them).

So, I was finally bitten by the article bug and wrote one up for AC. I initially thought I would publish it here and see what kind of hits I got with it, but changed my mind. My audience here is so small compared to who reads over there (the CPs who read AC articles voraciously but rarely venture into blogland, for instance. It doesn’t hurt that I get money over there either. Since it’s largely an op-ed piece I had to submit for no upfront payment, but that’s ok. It’s also non-exclusive. So, if it does well I’ll know where to concentrate my talents and maybe submit to a higher paying establishment (like Constant Content).

Here’s an excerpt of “When Good Drugs Go Bad: Why Your Doctor’s Prescription Pad Might Endanger Your Life”.

My primary care physician likes to promote relatively new medications and has been known, at least with me, to either not know of or intentionally mislead about serious side effects of particular medications. When he prescribed Tramadol (Ultram) for me he assured me that it was non-habit forming and that there were no serious side effects. He failed to mention that:

Commonly reported side effects include nausea, constipation, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, and vomiting. Less commonly reported side effects include itching, sweating, dry mouth, diarrhea, rash, visual disturbances, and vertigo. Some patients who received tramadol have reported seizures. Abrupt withdrawal of tramadol may result in anxiety, sweating, insomnia, rigors, pain, nausea, diarrhea, tremors, and hallucinations. [Emphasis mine. Source]

As a matter of fact, because of I’m so leery of taking medications with which I’m unfamiliar, I asked him about possible adverse side effects. He assured me that Tramadol (Ultram) is no worse that prescription strength acetaminophen or ibuprofen. At that time I trusted his judgement. Later at a checkup I told his NP that I sometimes took two pills at a time because they did little to alleviate my pain. She told me it was fine as long as I didn’t go over 500 mgs a day. She then consulted with the same doctor that prescribed the medication, and returned to tell me I was taking too much, that it wasn’t good for me and I should take the vicodin primarily for pain. She told me that I could take the Tramadol to boost the vicodin “occasionally”. I was again reassured that the Tramadol was basically safe and not to worry about anything. I already knew about the withdrawal symptoms, now I worried about other things. It’s better for me to take a controlled narcotic than this? Bye, bye Tramadol.

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