Tuesday, December 21, 2004

The best possible source of information: the lay press.

Today there are fears about naproxen "causing" cardiac death. Today, there are 800+ news articles refernced by Google news. Interestingly, there is no information on this from the NIH page, MDConsult, AAFP site or MedScape. Basically, the lay press will try to "scoop" the people who might actually be able to synthesize and present the data in a reasonable manner (that might not cause widespread panic). What good does it do to call your doctor, when the media releases information before his journal could even be delivered, assuming same-day delivery?

One day ago, the last data available on naproxen was that it was cardioprotective. Why the reversal? Oh, that's right, none of the studies involved were actually designed to observe cardiac outcomes. Could you use a microscope to read your newspaper? Maybe, but you might not see the whole thing correctly.

We'll see how I feel about this in a few days, after my articles come in the mail. Until then I shall continue to dine off of the 99 cent menu at the drive though, anticipating the day I can sue Roche, the maker of naprosyn, for my untimely cardiac event.