Because companies frequently offer new drugs for sale -- and because scientists are always studying them -- it's difficult to make a comprehensive list of dangerous drugs. However, here are some of the prescription drugs with the most serious and wide-reaching problems that have been reported in the past few years:
- Avandia and Actos are two similar prescription drugs meant to control Type II diabetes. They have not been recalled, but a study has discovered that they may raise patients' chances of a heart attack by 30 to 40 percent. Together, Avandia and Actos have been prescribed to several million Americans.
- Fosamax is prescribed to an estimated 20 million people each year for osteoporosis and advanced-stage cancer that has spread to the bones. A 2004 study linked it directly to osteonecrosis, or "dead jaw syndrome," in which jaw tissue won't heal. This leads to fractures, dead tissue that can rot in the body and dependence on antibiotics.
- Lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering drug, part of a class of drugs called statins, with sales of $10 billion annually. Scientists believe it causes kidney failure leading to a disease called rhabdomyolysis, in which the body's muscle tissue breaks down.
- Ortho Evra is a birth control method that relies on a weekly patch rather than a daily pill. About two million women used it in 2004, a year in which an Associated Press report linked the patch directly to a dozen deaths from blood clots. That report found that the risk of death from Ortho Evra was three times higher than the risk pose. by conventional pills.
- Paxil is a popular antidepressant used by millions of Americans. Studies in Europe have connected it with increased risk of suicidal behavior, especially in children and teens. Later studies found that taking Paxil while pregnant increases a mother's risk of having a child with physically and mentally disabling heart defects.
- Risperdal is normally prescribed to schizophrenics. However, a study of the drug's effect on Alzheimer's patients found that it substantially increased their risk of strokes, blood clots, hemorrhage and death.
- Trasylol has been approved for stopping bleeding in heart surgery patients since 1993. Thirteen years later, in 2006, a study found that the drug actually doubles patients' risk of heart failure, kidney failure, stroke and heart attack. Sales were suspended in November of 2007.
- Vioxx (and related drugs, Celebrex and Bextra) was a pain reliever for arthritis prescribed to millions of Americans between 1999 and 2004. Studies in the early 2000s found that the drug increased patients' risk of heart attacks and sudden cardiac death by as much as three times. It was withdrawn from the market in September of 2004 and remains mired in litigation.
- Vytorin (and related drugs Zetia and Zocor) has been prescribed to about 18 million Americans each year to lower cholesterol. The drug has been targeted by lawsuits since January of 2008, Vytorin's maker, Schering-Plough, released a two-year-old study showing the drug was no more effective than older, cheaper drugs at lowering cholesterol and heart attack risk. Patients believe they were misled and lied to by the manufacturer.
- Zelnorm was approved in 2002 to treat irritable bowel syndrome. Since then, studies have linked the drug with an increased risk of heart attacks, angina, strokes and liver problems. It was pulled from the U.S. market in March of 2007.
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