Case Report: Common painkiller tied to ER visit, internal bleeding

A young woman’s treatment with a common prescription painkiller for her chronic bladder pain eventually landed her in the emergency room. The 24 year old had started taking the pain reliever celecoxib (Celebrex) for interstitial cystitis (IC), a chronic condition that causes pelvic pain and urinary problems. This syndrome has no cure, with treatment based on trial and error. The … Read More

FDA strengthens heart attack, stroke risk warnings for NSAID pain medications

People regularly taking a common type of painkiller called an NSAID may be at greater risk for heart attack or stroke than previously thought. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has strengthened existing warnings of potentially deadly heart attack and stroke risk for a class of pain medications known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAID labeling already warns of … Read More

NIH panel: Patient-centered approach needed for pain management

Those suffering from chronic pain need individualized care strategies to be best served by their physicians, according to the recent findings of an expert panel convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “Persons living with chronic pain have often been grouped into a single category, and treatment approaches have been generalized with little evidence to support this practice,” said … Read More

Chronic pain patients’ pocketbooks feel pinch of major drug-drug interactions

Chronic pain patients already have enough to worry about from adverse drug events, but a new study highlights a possibly overlooked concern – their costs. According to a recent study published by Pergolizzi et al. in the May 2014 article in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, already vulnerable chronic pain patients could end up paying 22 percent more … Read More