There are calls for one of Australia's top-selling painkillers to be banned, after another study linked it to an increased chance of stroke in healthy people. Commonly sold as Voltaren, diclofenac is available in a number of brands and is as dangerous as the arthritis drug Vioxx, according to the author of the study.
Read article on the website of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
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In fact all NSAIDS have a similar effect, yet they are taken quite widely, often in OTC forms such as Ibuprofen. They often cause bleeding in the gut with any prolonged use and have been associated with stroke.
ReplyDeleteThey are also one of the most popular and profitable OTC analgesics in the world. As you say Vioxx was responsible for a number of deaths before it was banned. Merke are still fighting against any payouts in Britain despite a large cohort of sufferers and survivors families battling for compensation.
Norman Lamb, the Liberal shadow on health prior to the new Coalition's election, now seems very quiet on this issue. Maybe he's just sulking because Lansley got the job.
Norman Lamb would have been a more suitable choice. I remain furious with Lansley for refusing to ban the use of transfats in biscuits. Banning transfats in foods would save a lot of avoidable ill-health and suffering. But Lansley apparently favours food industry profits over the nation's health.
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