Crestor-muscle damage and kidney failure;childish ads

Have you heard those annoying ads for Crestor?
It is set up like a nursery rhyme fer gosh sakes - you must know it right?

But Crestor is being targetted to be WITHDRAWN for the whole market."Crestor, has been linked to cases of life-threatening muscle damage and kidney failure or damage."


here is a quip -

Consumer Group Calls on FDA to Withdraw Crestor From the Market:

Source: Public Citizen
Published: March 04, 2004

Public Citizen today called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to withdraw the cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor from the market. Crestor, which is marketed by AstraZeneca, has been linked to cases of life-threatening muscle damage and kidney failure or damage, says the consumer advocacy group.

"The FDA should never have approved this drug in the face of such serious and potentially lethal adverse effects," Public Citizen Health Research Group Director Sidney Wolfe, M.D. said. "The only way the agency can show it has concern for patient safety, and not drug industry wishes, is to pull Crestor from market immediately."

The FDA approved Crestor just five months ago.

Public Citizen claims three patients in the U.S. who were taking approved doses of Crestor developed kidney failure or muscle damage.

"We have obtained new information from the FDA and health agencies in Canada and the U.K. concerning serious post-marketing adverse reactions - including seven cases of life-threatening rhabdomyolysis (muscle destruction) and nine cases of kidney failure or kidney damage - in patients mostly using lower doses of this recently-approved cholesterol-lowering drug, Crestor," Dr. Wolfe said in a petition to FDA today.

In July 2003, Dr. Wolfe strongly urged the FDA not to approve Crestor, because in addition to the risks of muscle and kidney damage, Crestor has not been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, in addition to lowering cholesterol levels.

In the petition to the FDA, Public Citizen highlighted how two major U.S. insurers, WellPoint/Blue Cross and Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, have refused to reimburse for Crestor.

AstraZeneca is getting ready to launch a major direct-to-consumer advertising campaign to promote Crestor, Public Citizen said in a press release issued today.

------- end intro - fuller story at link -

"Crestor, has been linked to cases of life-threatening muscle damage and kidney failure or damage."

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Typical Crestor complaint -
Dr. put me on Crestor. A few days later I started muscle cramps in my right shoulder and upper arm area. I thought I pulled a muscle. Then I started hearing about the side effects from Crestor and I got worried. I stopped taking it. It has now been five weeks and I still have the weakness, but not as bad. It hurts worse when I lay down--makes it hard to sleep. Am I wrong to stop taking it? I only take one prescription--Norvasc--for HBP. So I am not on many other drugs that could possiblly cause this. And I only started noticing it after I began taking the Crestor.
Posted by: Mary Lee on October 09, 2004

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So you decide. The info from the docs is not complete.... the rest is not verified... why?

Karlin

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1657

http://www.legalnewswatch.com/Crestor_t.html
http:// { link to more Crestor LEGAL news }

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