Worst Pills, Best Pills

An expert, independent second opinion on more than 1,800 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and supplements

diclofenac [oral] (CAMBIA, CATAFLAM, VOLTAREN, ZIPSOR, ZORVOLEX)


DRUG AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENT PROFILES

A comprehensive review of the safety and effectiveness of this drug. If the drug is not a Do Not Use product, information on adverse effects, drug interactions and how to use the medication are included.
Search results below include Drug and Dietary Supplement Profiles where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.

celecoxib (CELEBREX, ELYXYB); meloxicam (MOBIC); rofecoxib (VIOXX); valdecoxib (BEXTRA)
  • We list these drugs as Do Not Use drugs because they are no more effective than related drugs, most have not been shown to have a lower rate of ulcers than related drugs and some have been shown to cause heart disease.

WORST PILLS, BEST PILLS NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.

Critiquing Evidence About the Risky Arthritis and Pain Drug Celecoxib (CELEBREX, CONSENSI)
August 2021
Learn why we have designated celecoxib, a widely used selective COX-2 inhibitor that belongs to a drug class called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, as Do Not Use.
Use of Tramadol for Arthritis Linked to Increased Risk of Death
August 2019
The FDA has approved five medications for treatment of cold sores — sometimes referred to as fever blisters, oral herpes or herpes labialis. Find out which of these drugs offer the most benefit.
Systemic Corticosteroids Ineffective for Low Back Pain
February 2019
Low back pain is a frequent reason for outpatient and emergency room visits among adults. Read why treatment with corticosteroids is a poor choice for treating this common condition.
Potassium Increases Due to Drug Interactions Can Be Dangerous
November 2008
One of the most common drug interactions occurs when patients take two or more drugs that can each increase blood potassium levels. The resulting condition, hyperkalemia (increased blood potassium levels), can cause nausea, fatigue, muscle weakness or tingling sensations, as well as heart abnormalities, showing up as an abnormal electrocardiogram. In some cases it can be fatal. The article lists 50 drugs which, especially when used in combination, can cause hyperkalemia.
Dangers of Mixing Alcohol with Certain Medications or Diseases
August 2008
The article discusses 273 drugs that can have harmful interactions with alcohol. Also reviewed are several ways in which these harmful interactions can occur: 1/ Medications Can Increase Alcohol Blood Levels 2/ Additive effects of medications and alcohol. One of the best- known drug-alcohol interactions is when alcohol, a depressant, is taken with other sedative medications, and excessive sedation or depression of respiration can occur 3/Alcohol can increase the blood levels of some medications leading to toxicity of these drugs. 4/ Alcohol also can reduce blood levels of some medications causing them to be less effective. Although some of the interactions between alcohol and medications mainly occur in people who drink heavily (three or more drinks on one occasion), many of these interactions may occur with much lower amounts of alcohol use, such as one to two drinks on an occasion. We strongly urge you to tell your physicians and other health care providers how much alcohol you are drinking so they can effectively assess the risks and advise you about the safe use of alcohol and medications.
Ibuprofen Can Reduce Aspirin’s Protective Effect Against Heart Attacks and Strokes
March 2008
This article explains the dangers of using ibuprofen (MOTRIN, ADVIL) because it interferes with the protective effect of low-dose aspirin to prevent blood clots and protect against heart attacks or strokes. Find out how these two widely-used therapies have a harmful interaction and what you should do.
SSRIs Can Have Dangerous Interactions With Other Drugs
January 2008
More than 70 million prescriptions a year are filled for these popular antidepressants, including Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Luvox, Celexa and Lexapro. This article gives details about more than 60 other widely prescribed prescription drugs that can have harmful interactions if used with these antidepressants. The two different kinds of interactions are also discussed.
Drug Interactions: Warfarin (COUMADIN)
December 2007
This article explains how to understand the International Normalized Ratio (INR), a test applied to a sample of a patient’s blood to determine how “thin” it is when you are using the blood thinner COUMADIN (warfarin). In addition, the article lists more than 50 drugs or dietary supplements that can interact harmfully with COUMADIN to cause the blood to be too thin (abnormal bleeding) or not thin enough which could result in lessening the effect of COUMADIN in stopping blood clot formation.
Celecoxib (CELEBREX) May Double the Risk for Heart Attacks Compared to Older Arthritis Drugs
May 2006
New research published in the March 2006 edition of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine indicates that the popular arthritis and painkilling drug celecoxib (CELEBREX) may double the risk for heart attacks compared to older arthritis medications.
FDA Public Health Advisory - Arthritis Drug Valdecoxib (BEXTRA) Removed From Market; Major New Warnings for Other NSAIDs
June 2005
If you are currently taking celecoxib (CELEBREX)you should contact your physician to consider alternative NSAID treatment.
Problems With COX-2 Inhibitors Vault Meloxicam (MOBIC) To Blockbuster Status
March 2005
There is no medical reason why you should be taking meloxicam rather than an older, equally effective NSAID such as ibuprofen to manage arthritis.
Blockbuster Arthritis Drug Rofecoxib (VIOXX) Withdrawn From Market
November 2004
Vioxx is the ninth prescription drug to be taken off the market in the past seven years that Worst Pills, Best Pills News readers were previously warned DO NOT USE. The average time between warning readers not to use these drugs and their removal from the market was one year and eight months.
Lawsuit Reveals Serious Safety Problems with the Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug Valdecoxib (BEXTRA)
September 2004
Public Citizen filed suit in the District Court for the District of Columbia on February 25, 2004 against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking that they make public complete copies of the agency’s scientific reviews of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) valdecoxib (BEXTRA).
COX-2 Inhibitors Vioxx and Celebrex: Keep Staying Away--It Gets Worse
March 2001
 In light of the above discussion, we continue to advise the patient-protective five-year-rule for these drugs, as we do for all other new drugs that are not breakthroughs. Do Not Use.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC CITIZEN

Search results below include Additional Information from Public Citizen where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.

European Drug Regulatory Authority Should Remove Arthritis Drug Etoricoxib and Weight Loss Drug Rimonabant From European Market
The European drug regulatory authority should immediately remove from the European market the arthritis drug etoricoxib (Arcoxia) and the anti-obesity drug rimonabant (Accomplia), according to a letter sent by Public Citizen to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) today.
Petition to remove the Cox-2 Inhibitors Celecoxcib (CELEBREX) and Valdecoxcib (BEXTRA) From the Market (HRG Publication #1720)
Petition to remove the Cox-2 Inhibitors Celecoxcib (CELEBREX) and Valdecoxcib (BEXTRA) From the Market (HRG Publication #1720)
Vioxx, Other “Super Aspirins” Are Super Disasters – Other Cox-2 Alternatives Have Safety Problems Too (HRG Publication #1707)
Today’s announcement by Merck is the latest evidence that this family of drugs, the Cox-2 inhibitors, once referred to as “super aspirins,” are turning out to be more like super disasters.
Statement before the Food and Drug Administration's Arthritis Drugs Advisory Committee on the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug celexocib. (HRG Publication #1465)
There needs to be clear evidence from comparative long-term, higher dose randomized trials in which celecoxib or any other COX-2 type of anti-inflammatory drug is compared to the least dangerous of these older drugs, ibuprofen, that there is a statistically significantly lower amount of serious GI complications such as perforations, ulcers or bleeding with the COX-2 inhibitor drug.