Nexium as an alternative after Vioxx recall

After Vioxx recall in September of 2004, the first beneficiaries were Celebrex and Bextra, two drugs that were aggressively marketed the very same day by Pfizer. The party did not last all that long since in early December, news started to pour in about their side effects. A series of studies were presented during this period and in February, a panel of experts concluded that Vioxx, Celebrex, and Bextra were essentially all bad drugs but since the panel had many members with ties to both Pfizer and Merck, it recommended that the drugs be brought back on the market. A decision from the FDA is expected soon but for all those Americans who never read a newspaper or watch the news on TV, this is a very dangerous situation. (Related article: Will you take Vioxx if it returns?)

Since then Mobic has become a popular alternative and so have Aleve, ibuprofen, etc. Interestingly enough, even some natural alternatives to Vioxx have been offered. But an unexpected drug is also benefiting from the controversy over Cox-2 drugs. Patients are switching to older anti-inflammatories (e.g. aspirin) in combination with ulcer drugs known as proton-pump inhibitors. Those drugs include Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid and Protonix.

In the US alone, Nexium sales are up 10% while in other markets they are up 29%. This will all be great if Nexium were a wonderful deal for American consumers. Well it so turns out that Nexium is nothing but Prilosec (whose patent has expired, and since it is now made by many more drugmakers now, the prices are dirt cheap), but sold at a significantly higher price, all because of slick direct-to-consumer advertising by AstraZeneca. Lawsuits are pending
against the firm for misleading consumers.

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