celebrex/my mom's death - Death & Dying Message Board

jayboy557 · 12-17-2004, 07:18 PM

today i saw on tv that celebrex is just like vioxx in that it doubles your risk for heart attack. my mom died last year and was taking celebrex for a pinched nerve. in fact, she fill the celebrex prescription two weeks before she died. i cried today and was wondering whether to file a lawsuit. she was high risk for heart attack and stroke. it makes me angry that this could have caused her death. what would you guys do. so angry and sad. thanks, jason.

delrae4753 · 12-18-2004, 09:40 PM

If it were me i would definately get in touch with a lawyer maybe one that is doing a class action suit im sure if you do an internet search you should be able to find one

kerry1 · 12-19-2004, 11:03 AM

If you're up to it, I'd file a class action suit. Don't expect a lot of money; it's the principle of the thing. If enough people do this, they'll stop approving so many dangerous drugs. Sorry about your Mom.

dbon99 · 01-05-2005, 08:44 AM

So sorry about your Mom. If you truly feel Celebrex contributed towards her passing, then by all means seek justice. However, your Mom was only on the medication a couple of weeks. In my non-medical opinion, that's not long enough for any damage to be done. I feel very badly for you, you must be so angry and sad right now. Remember that your anger is all a part of the process of grieving and healing; give it a little time before you decide what to do. In the end, your decision should be based on what is best for you, in your journey towards acceptance. God bless you, my heart goes out to you.

runner2004 · 01-05-2005, 11:17 AM

My condolences regarding your mother. When a tragedy such as this occurs, one always asks: Why? and How could it have been prevented?

I have mixed feelings about these lawsuits. The study that resulted in the withdrawal of Vioxx from the market consisted of about 2600 patients. Just under 2% of the patients not taking Vioxx had heart attacks, about 3.8% of those taking Vioxx had heart attacks. Of course, Merck withdrew the medicine because of the certainty of lawsuits. Yes, the risk of heart attack "nearly doubled", but the risk was still quite low. The information "almost doubled your risk of heart attack" is not enough information to make an intelligent decision regarding a treatment. Is your cup 96% full, or 4% empty? Do you count on the benefits that Cox-2 nsaids give for those 96%. I know that this is hard to hear when your mother was part of that 4%.

Apparently, there are no studies with other Cox-2 nsaids with as large a sample, or that covered as long a time period as the Vioxx study. Researchers are trying to combine several smaller studies to glean information related to the other Cox-2 inhibitors such as Celebrex. Analysis of these combined studies is the source of the possibility that Celebrex might also be a problem.

I'm not involved with the pharma industry, but I am a chemist who certainly has been involved with analysis of statistical data. And I am of the age (64) where I am thinking more about cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other degenerative health issues. Figures don't lie, but liars sure as hell figure. I am strongly in favor of the FDA changing the rules so that ALL studies are made public and that all adverse effects are reported, not just those "in support" of a treatment. But those additional data must be analyzed carefully. We have to look at population statistics.

Anything that we put in or on our bodies can have any combination of good, bad, and/or no effects. Absolutely nothing that we do is without risk of injury or even death. We are always trying to balance the good effects versus the bad. Unfortunately, we sometimes end up on the wrong side of the statistics.