Coase Colored Glasses

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Funny Science

The recent removal of Vex from the market shocked and scared many people. Now there is talk of removing its cousin produced by Pfizer Celebrex. Some info can be found here about the COX-2 drugs and their possible affects. But what stands out most to me is what the article does not say, and even what information was released about the studies was not complete. The Celebrex study that had said it greatly increased the chance of heart disease is in my opinion flawed. In a discussion with a prominent hand doctor about the study I was told that the sample size was small and the entire sample consisted of cancer patients. Also the recipients took 800 mg, while the average dose that all doctors prescribe is 200mg, sometime 100mg. This is just an example of skewed science that does not always include every factor. The article does not even state how scientifically the COX-2 drugs affect the body only that it does. Vioxx has been removed form the market and Celebrex may soon follow; and all because of what I have come to believe is funny science. This shows exactly how powerful funny science is because our society views science as impartial, but rarely do they understand that many labs are bureaucracies funded by the government or special interest groups. In my opinion this 'funny science' needs to be looked at more carefully, and I do wonder what other 'discoveries' are based on funny science that have altered our lives. Because we as consumers often are not given a chance to choose the risk or not we are stuck with the result of this science.
Personally I have seen what arthritis can do, and to be honest I've seen Celebrex at work and in my opinion it is worth the risk.

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