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dwerten · 06-12-2010, 06:09 PM

I posted the link but you might want to read this on how Rimadyl came about

WARNING...To Every Dog Owner. (Pfizer Rimadyl Carprofen)

Product: Pfizer Rimadyl Carprofen
Date: 01/11/01 (20311 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: May help some dogs

Disadvantages: May be wrong for others

This is the most difficult opinion I have ever written, because of the painful memories it brings back, but I feel it is something I must do, and I'm grateful that opinion sites like Dooyoo are giving me a voice. The name of this drug, Rimadyl, sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it, but in truth it should not be the medication itself which affects me, but the arrogance of many veterinary surgeons who administer it without taking proper precautions, or discussing the pros and cons of its use with the owners of their patients.

HISTORY OF RIMADYL.

Rimadyl (carprofen),is an anti-inflammatory drug along the lines of Ibuprofen, and is used for pain relief in conditions such as arthritits, painful joints etc., in dogs. Developer, Roche Laboratories initially planned to market it for humans in 1988 and even received FDA approval, but then shelved the idea as they claimed the market for such drugs was too crowded. Perhaps one of the main reasons for this action though, was because some outside experts expressed concerns about unusual liver-function readings in 14% to 20% of the test subjects.

Now. having spent so much money on the development of the drug, the idea of just scrapping the whole project did not appeal to the company at all. Then they came up with the idea of switching the product to the animal-drug market. A couple of corporate transactions later, and Rimadyl was in the hands of Pfizer's animal-drug unit.

Next came the kind of sophisticated marketing Pfizer does well, and a survey of 885 dog owners revealed what they already knew; the vast majority of the owners surveyed were willing to pay "whatever it took", to give painrelief and perhaps add a couple more years to their aging pet's life.

The Federal Drugs Administration requires testing for animal-drugs just as for human ones, but animal-drug tests are smaller, and only about 500 dogs were given Rimadyl in various trials, which

is about a fifth of the number of subjects in comparable human-drug trials. Here some dogs showed unusual liver-function readings and one young beagle on a high dose actually died, but for the most part, the FDA and Pfizer didn't find the side effects alarming, and the drug was approved for an early-1997 launch.

Anyway, when the drug was finally released, after a multi-million dollar advertising campaign, vets were floored by the drug's effects, many claiming the results were close to miraculous. Now, as with all medications, some side-effects were evident, but after the drug's full first year, it was emerging that Rimadyl had more problems than most. Reports about Rimadyl came in by the hundreds. The FDA had received just over 3,000 animal-drug bad-reaction reports in 1996, the year before Rimadyl's launch; but in 1998, the drug's first full year, Rimadyl alone produced more than that many.

MY EXPERIENCE OF RIMADYL.

In August 2000, my Blue Merle Sheltie, Hamish, seemed suddenly to have lost his bounce. He appeared to be walking ok, and no pain was evident, but he no longer jumped up on the sofa or his favourite chair. As he was due for his annual booster, I mentioned my concern to the vet during the visit, but after an examination she said she could find nothing wrong with him and he was probably just overweight. She came to this conclusion without actually weighing him, but he had an exceptional coat, even for a sheltie, which made him look double the size he actually was, and he weighed less than my mum's sheltie who was still bouncing about fine, so I didn't bother too much about the weight issue, and was relieved that she could find nothing else wrong with him.

A couple of months passed, and by now it was the end of November, but Hamish in my view was still not himself, so I returned to the vet. Again she said she could find nothing wrong with him, but ended up giving him an injectio
n and
sent me home with some tablets to see if this helped. I had to ask what exactly he was getting, and was told it was some anti-inflammatory drug which may help him. I said I would rather he had an x-ray just to see if there was a problem, but she insisted he try out this drug for a week first. This all happened on the Friday afternoon.

.

06-12-2010, 06:09 PM	#12
dwerten BANNED! Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA Posts: 11,073	I posted the link but you might want to read this on how Rimadyl came about WARNING...To Every Dog Owner. (Pfizer Rimadyl Carprofen) Product: Pfizer Rimadyl Carprofen Date: 01/11/01 (20311 review reads) Rating: Advantages: May help some dogs Disadvantages: May be wrong for others This is the most difficult opinion I have ever written, because of the painful memories it brings back, but I feel it is something I must do, and I'm grateful that opinion sites like Dooyoo are giving me a voice. The name of this drug, Rimadyl, sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it, but in truth it should not be the medication itself which affects me, but the arrogance of many veterinary surgeons who administer it without taking proper precautions, or discussing the pros and cons of its use with the owners of their patients. HISTORY OF RIMADYL. Rimadyl (carprofen),is an anti-inflammatory drug along the lines of Ibuprofen, and is used for pain relief in conditions such as arthritits, painful joints etc., in dogs. Developer, Roche Laboratories initially planned to market it for humans in 1988 and even received FDA approval, but then shelved the idea as they claimed the market for such drugs was too crowded. Perhaps one of the main reasons for this action though, was because some outside experts expressed concerns about unusual liver-function readings in 14% to 20% of the test subjects. Now. having spent so much money on the development of the drug, the idea of just scrapping the whole project did not appeal to the company at all. Then they came up with the idea of switching the product to the animal-drug market. A couple of corporate transactions later, and Rimadyl was in the hands of Pfizer's animal-drug unit. Next came the kind of sophisticated marketing Pfizer does well, and a survey of 885 dog owners revealed what they already knew; the vast majority of the owners surveyed were willing to pay "whatever it took", to give painrelief and perhaps add a couple more years to their aging pet's life. The Federal Drugs Administration requires testing for animal-drugs just as for human ones, but animal-drug tests are smaller, and only about 500 dogs were given Rimadyl in various trials, which is about a fifth of the number of subjects in comparable human-drug trials. Here some dogs showed unusual liver-function readings and one young beagle on a high dose actually died, but for the most part, the FDA and Pfizer didn't find the side effects alarming, and the drug was approved for an early-1997 launch. Anyway, when the drug was finally released, after a multi-million dollar advertising campaign, vets were floored by the drug's effects, many claiming the results were close to miraculous. Now, as with all medications, some side-effects were evident, but after the drug's full first year, it was emerging that Rimadyl had more problems than most. Reports about Rimadyl came in by the hundreds. The FDA had received just over 3,000 animal-drug bad-reaction reports in 1996, the year before Rimadyl's launch; but in 1998, the drug's first full year, Rimadyl alone produced more than that many. MY EXPERIENCE OF RIMADYL. In August 2000, my Blue Merle Sheltie, Hamish, seemed suddenly to have lost his bounce. He appeared to be walking ok, and no pain was evident, but he no longer jumped up on the sofa or his favourite chair. As he was due for his annual booster, I mentioned my concern to the vet during the visit, but after an examination she said she could find nothing wrong with him and he was probably just overweight. She came to this conclusion without actually weighing him, but he had an exceptional coat, even for a sheltie, which made him look double the size he actually was, and he weighed less than my mum's sheltie who was still bouncing about fine, so I didn't bother too much about the weight issue, and was relieved that she could find nothing else wrong with him. A couple of months passed, and by now it was the end of November, but Hamish in my view was still not himself, so I returned to the vet. Again she said she could find nothing wrong with him, but ended up giving him an injectio n and sent me home with some tablets to see if this helped. I had to ask what exactly he was getting, and was told it was some anti-inflammatory drug which may help him. I said I would rather he had an x-ray just to see if there was a problem, but she insisted he try out this drug for a week first. This all happened on the Friday afternoon. .