This from a recent "Google" alert -
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ut/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=115533302
9166&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112188062620_
(http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layo\
ut/Article_Type1&c=Article
&cid=1155333029166&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112188062620)

... Novartis Animal Health, the maker of Deramaxx, received a ... over
slow reporting of illness and deaths linked to ... The FDA cannot, however,
require vets to give the
_http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layo\
ut/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1155333029166&cal
l_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112188062620_
(http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layo\
ut/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=115
5333029166&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112188062620)

This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google...
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QUOTE:

Deadly drugs
Like Vioxx, Deramaxx ends with two x's. Like Vioxx, Deramaxx is an
anti-inflammatory drug used as a painkiller. Like Vioxx, it has side-effects
that can
be deadly.
Unlike Vioxx, Deramaxx is for dogs. And unlike Vioxx, it is still being
sold.
Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 and is the subject of thousands of
lawsuits against Merck & Co.
Novartis Animal Health, the maker of Deramaxx, received a formal warning from
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2004 over slow reporting of illness
and deaths linked to the drug.
Information about adverse reactions is posted on the company's website and is
provided to veterinarians, who both prescribe and dispense medication for
animals.
The FDA cannot, however, require vets to give the information to pet owners.
Victoria Hampshire, an FDA employee who blew the whistle on problems with
another medicine for dogs, believes the agency's response to reports of serious
side-effects is inadequate.
"Whatever problems we face with drugs in the human world are magnified in the
animal world," she told the Washington Post.
"There's no pharmacist involved, so there's no monitoring of prescriptions.
And, of course, the patient can't talk and tell you he doesn't feel right."
END QUOTE
Jean
(Always for George - Always for the Rimadyl dogs)


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