The Spine-health.com poll of 375 back pain patients who were taking Pfizer’s Celebrex, Bextra, or Merck & Co’s Vioxx shows that only 36% are still taking some brand of COX-2 inhibitor.
Of those polled, 42% switched to other pain medications (for example, Bayer’s Aleve, Wyeth’s Advil, or Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol), and 9% switched to non-drug pain relievers (for example, herbal/dietary supplements). Surprisingly, 13% are forgoing any medication until more safety information is available.
Changing or discontinuing a pain medication is a major decision that significantly impacts quality of life for people with chronic back pain or arthritis. The poll suggests that information about side effects made available to the public was powerful enough to cause flight from an entire class of drugs (and even from any drug), despite the potential for increased pain.
“This poll illustrates the high level of concern among patients about the potential side effects of COX-2 inhibitors,” said Dr Andrew Cole, a physiatrist in Bellevue, Washington.