According to the FDA, this is one of the largest drug recalls ever. However this is no surprise. Long time readers of this article might be aware that FIVE years ago I posted warnings about Vioxx, BEFORE it was even on the market. I don't know how much more of a warning I could have posted. You did not have to be one of the nearly 100 million worldwide who took this drug if you had read the multiple warnings (see below) that I have issued in this newsletter.

Folks, that is what you get when you subscribe to the "eHealthy News You Can Use" newsletter -- and that is what your family and friends will get if you and recommend that they subscribe to this free e-newsletter: information that is YEARS ahead of its time that can literally save your life. When I posted my original warning on Vioxx five years ago, I received the "doubting" emails I still get to this day with the information I post: things like, "but they wouldn't be allowed to sell it if it wasn't safe" or I "don't know what I am talking about because the FDA did or is about to approve it!" And other such naivete (and some name-calling I won't post here).

Well, I am not referring you to the warning on Vioxx I posted five years ago just to say I was right again ... I am referring you to demonstrate that the cautions, insight and guidance you'll find in this newsletter are based on fact and honest clinical insight -- fact and insight not tainted by greed and corruption that dominates the contemporary healthcare industry.

As long-time readers know, this is just one of many quite valid warnings that I have issued to alert you to the dangers that the drug model has for your health. So if you have friends and relatives that you value please and encourage them to subscribe to this free newsletter so they don't have to wait till drug companies decide to be responsible and take their drugs off the market before further people are seriously injured or killed.

I am very glad that Merck did the responsible thing and took Vioxx off the market, even though doing so meant losing nearly $30 billion dollars. That may seem like a lot of money but is only twice what drug companies pay to market their drugs to doctors every year. Merck sold billions of dollars of Vioxx for one reason though. People are in pain and Vioxx worked. It just had very serious side effects, like death. Folks don't think Celebrex is much better, just because it isn't off the market yet, doesn't mean that it is loaded with the same type of side effects. They just haven't done the studies yet that from a legal perspective, would force them to take this drug off the market.

The market for analgesics is over TEN BILLION dollars per year. That is one big number. That is why these are important drugs to watch. It is important to remember that anytime you are dealing with numbers that large there will inevitably be corruption, greed and negative influences that are a part of the story if drugs are involved.

So what can you do to treat pain in a way that not only addresses its cause but makes you healthier?

There are two steps that will help the vast majority of people with pain. That is to start a high quality fish oil (cod liver oil) at this time of year and to stop sugar. Omega-3 fats are precursors to mediators of inflammation called prostaglandins. In fact that is how Vioxx and other NSAIDs work. They manipulate prostaglandins. However, when you do it in an unnatural drug way, there is frequently another price to pay like side effects that can lead to death. When you use natural methods like omega-3 fats and stopping sugar, the side effects are good health.

Sugar and grain avoidance for most people will lower insulin levels. Elevated insulin levels are one of the most important reasons why inflammatory prostaglandins are produced. That is why stopping sugar and sweets are so essential to controlling arthritis pain and other types of chronic degenerative illness.

Most people were using Vioxx for osteoarthritis and other types of pain. But for those that were using it for the less common rheumatoid arthritis, it is important to know that optimizing vitamin D is one of the most important physical measures one can take to treat RA. Sun exposure is clearly the best way to achieve this however at this time of year the only alternative to months vacation in the Caribbean that most of us can't do is to consume healthy vitamin D that is in cod liver oil. Cod liver oil is clearly the safest form of vitamin D supplementation as it also has vitamin A and this can balance against absorbing too much vitamin D.

nutritional typing is another tool that I have seen works in thousands of patients to reduce their pain -- if you are not yet aware of your metabolic type and how this can profoundly improve your health and help reduce pain, I strongly recommend you consider my bestselling Total Health book, which is centered around the topic (and provides strategies for avoiding sugars and grains). Eating according to your nutritional type is absolutely amazing , especially when combined with an effective energy psychology tool like EFT that can address previous emotional traumas that cause bioelectrical short circuiting predisposing one to immune dysfunction.

Warnings Against Vioxx

New Painkiller Might Be a Bitter Pill for Some Patients January 24, 1999

FDA Approves New Arthritis Drug To Compete With Celebrex April 16, 2000

Vioxx and Celebrex (Cox-2 Inhibitors) May Affect Kidneys July 9, 2000

Common Anti-Inflammatory Can Cause Non-Bacterial Meningitis April 10, 2002

How Vioxx and Celebrex Increase Your Risk of Heart Attack May 1, 2002

New Anti-inflammatory Drugs Damage Your Bones June 19, 2002

Arthritis Drug Linked to Heart Failure June 16, 2004

Painkillers Inhibit Bone Healing June 30, 2004

Vioxx Increases Heart Attacks 50 Percent: FDA Study September 8, 2004