Bextra, a New COX-2 Inhibitor Drug

[Guest guest]

Dear Group,

As I was doing some research on the web, I came across news releases to the

effect that a new drug, Bextra, has been approved by the FDA as a COX-2

inhibitor to treat the inflammation of arthritis. Like Celebex and Vioxx,

Bextra is an NSAID that is supposed to be gentler on the stomach than less

expensive conventional NSAIDS, like Naproxen. A single 10 mg pill of

Bextra will last all day, comparable to a single 25 mg pill of Vioxx. For

additional information, please see

http://www.arthritissupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/294.

So far I have not yet been able to find any pricing information; however, I

know that Vioxx costs around $90 per month in the U.S., and I would expect

Bextra to be priced comparatively. Bextra will be marketed by Pharmacia

Corp. and Pfizer Inc. , the same alliance that is marketing Celebrex.

Apparently, Bextra will be pitted against Vioxx, which is being marketed by

Merck.

The business success of COX-2 inhibitors has been phenomenal, with annual

U.S. sales in excess of $5 billion and high profit margins. For additional

information on the business aspects, please see the article " COX-2

Inhibitors and Rheumatoid Arthritis " at

http://www.therubins.com/illness/rheumcol3.htm. Powerful economic forces

are at play here, which explains why the drug industry is trying to squelch

less profitable treatment alternatives, like the antibiotic protocol (AP).

I have tried Celebrex and Vioxx and found both to be equally effective for

my RA. I currently augment the AP with a quarter pill of Vioxx each morning.

Sincerely,

Harald

[Guest guest]

Powerful economic forces

> are at play here, which explains why the drug industry is trying to

squelch

> less profitable treatment alternatives, like the antibiotic

protocol (AP).

>

> I have tried Celebrex and Vioxx and found both to be equally

effective for

> my RA. I currently augment the AP with a quarter pill of Vioxx each

morning.

>

> Sincerely,

> Harald

I'm not so sure they are trying to " squelch " alternatives, rather I

think it is more a matter of ignoring the alternatives since they

don't make them money . (maybe just a case of semantics) Thus they

pour their advertising dollars into those products that they've had

in the pipeline for years as a way of recouping their costs (and

making themselves filthy rich along the way). So in essence they are

squelching talk about alternatives because the alternatives don't

have the deep pockets of the drug companies to effectively market

themselves.

Unfortunately, until the public gets fed up enough and starts

pestering the hell out of their elected officials, nothing is going

to change and we're going to be the victims of high priced " designer

drugs "

Personally I had no success with Vioxx or Celebrex, but all of these

Nsaids are a personal thing - you really do have to switch around

between them (if you are going to use them) until you find one that

seems to offer some relief.

Mark