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Biotech / Medical : Merck -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: muddphudd who wrote (1191)	4/21/1999 6:28:00 PM
From: RavBruce	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1580

I am a long term holder of Merck and wanted to chime in with a personal story to highlight the importance of GI safety: When I was on NSAI a few years ago for chronic jaw pain, I had a massive internal bleed that took me to a hemaglobin of 4.5 (right above the stroke level). I had to have four blood transfusions and was out of school for a while. I don't think I was taking a maximum dosage either. The safety here is a big concern. Currently, they are some NSAI that are considered safer but doctors often proscribe medicine to protect the stomach/intestines while the patient uses the NSAI. If Vioxx will make it safer and easier for patients to control chronic pain, then doctors will recommend it and patients will flock to it. When I was using them, I was often switched to a new one to see how it would work. I imagine many will switch to VIoxx and stay on if it does the trick. Cost is an issue but without the cost of protecting medicine, it will probably be cheaper to take just Vioxx. Bruce