Fw: Health e-Tips - Know a child or teen with rheumatoid arthritis? Read this NOW

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

From: Nutrition and Healing - O'Brien

Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 10:36 AM

Excerpt from Dr. 's newsletter

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Dear Reader,

In her teen years, one of my closest friends struggled daily with the pain

of rheumatoid arthritis. She's since gotten it under control naturally, and has

been able to ditch most of the mainstream medications her doctor had her on.

But as soon as I saw the latest news from the FDA, I knew she had to know

about it. She's on vacation, away from her computer, so I sent her a text

message asking " Were you ever on TNF blockers for your arthritis? "

Because the FDA has just released a new warning that these drugs increase

the risk of CANCER in children and adolescents, on average after 30 months of

treatment.

About half of the cancers were lymphomas, which involve cells of the

immune system. The media is reporting that " some " of the cancers were fatal.

Hold on a second there—out of the 48 reported cases the FDA looked at in

their analysis, 11 were fatal. That's nearly 23% of the cases—not a percentage

I'd casually brush off as " some. "

No. In fact, it's a percentage that sends chills down my spine. One that

makes me wonder why these drugs aren't being pulled NOW.

Of course, rather than recall these dangerous drugs, the FDA is instead

pumping up the warnings included on prescribing information. These drugs already

carry the strongest warnings possible about risk of serious infection. So

they'll just add the cancer warning to the " black box " and call it a day.

They're also asking the makers of the drugs to provide information about

all cases of cancer reported in children on TNF blockers. They want to work with

the manufacturers to " further define the scope of the cancer risk. "

Mind you, some of this exploration, it's reported, will take about TEN

YEARS.

Ten years to " define the scope. " How many children will be sacrificed in

this quest? The risk is there, it's been defined—that should be enough. How

many children will end up with cancer in those 10 years, as these drug companies

make a futile effort to prove their drugs are safe?

Here are the drugs to look out for—the TNF blockers that are approved

for use in children are Remicade (infliximab), Enbrel (etancercept), and Humira

(adalimumab). They're all multibillion-dollar sellers. Enbrel alone pulled in

$3.4 billion last year. Starting to see why they're going for a stronger warning

instead of pulling the drugs?

Incidentally, when I heard back from my friend, she told me she'd

(thankfully) never been put on TNF blockers. But her mom had been on them—and

they landed her in the hospital for three months.

Yours in good health,

O'Brien

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Bear in mind we are not addressing anyone's personal situation and you

should rely on this for informational purposes only. Please consult with your

own physician before acting on any recommendations contained herein.

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Sources:

" FDA: Cancer Warnings Required for TNF Blockers, " FDA (www.fda.gov).

" Early Communication About an Ongoing Safety Review of Tumor Necrosis

Factor (TNF) Blockers (marketed as Remicade, Enbrel, Humira, and Cimzia), " FDA

(www.fda.gov).

" .Arthritis drugs raise cancer risk in kids: FDA, " News

(news.).

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