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COPYRIGHT 2005 International Medical News Group
VIENNA -- What are the clinical ramifications of the growing body of evidence questioning the cardiovascular safety of NSAIDs?
Thomas J. Schnitzer, M.D., has seen the writing on the wall: There will be a marked reduction in the long-term use of NSAIDs, both the traditional nonselective ones as well as the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-selective agents, for management of chronic pain. This trend will be particularly evident in the treatment of aging patients with underlying cardiovascular and/or renal disease and those who are simply at increased cardiovascular risk. Historically, these are the patients most often treated with the drugs, and precisely the type of patient Dr. Schnitzer sees every day as a rheumatologist.
"The safety concerns are realistic and reasonable," he said at a satellite symposium held in conjunction with the annual European congress of rheumatology. "This is now a phenomenon that I think is greater...
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