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TwitThisFor Her, the Risk Is Worth It
Zena McAdams, 59, a regional pastor in Macon, Georgia, has lived with a condition that caused chronic pain for many years. For a long time she took OTC ibuprofen, "I mean lots of it," she says. In the spring of 2001, her doctor prescribed Vioxx. Taken only once a day, it was "remarkable," she says. "I took it every day till it was taken off the market."After speaking to her doctor, she switched to Celebrex last October. It was also effective in controlling the aches and pains associated with her condition -- until she heard concerns that it, too, had serious potential side effects. She talked to her doctor, weighed the risks versus the benefits and decided that her quality of life was most important. "There is always that nagging feeling about safety," she says, "but there is no reason to think that I have any heart problems.
"The benefits at this point in my life certainly outweigh the risks. The drug works. It tempers the pain."
Resources for Drug-Savvy Patients
Websites that make accurate, credible information available at no cost:
- www.safemedication.com
Hosted by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, this database of more than 800 different medications enables the user to enter the name of a drug in a search engine to find out information about why it is prescribed, how it is used, potential side effects and cautions.
- CRBestBuyDrugs.org
Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, recently launched this free website, which compares a variety of prescription drugs on price, safety and effectiveness. The first CR reports cover cholesterol-lowering medications, heartburn and acid-reflux treatments, and anti-inflammatories that are used to treat arthritis.
From Reader's Digest - April 2005
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