Page 2118 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 28 May 1991
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MINISTER FOR HEALTH, EDUCATION AND THE ARTS
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY QUESTION
QUESTION TAKEN ON NOTICE ON 21 MARCH 1991
Anti-inflammatory Drugs
Mr Stevenson - asked the Minister for Health, Education and the Arts:
Is Mr Humphries aware that the anti-inflammatory drugs, NASAs, basically used for arthritic patients, supposedly have no benefit for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers? That they can apparently cause ulcers in some 20 to 30 per cent of patients, and bleeding and tearing of the stomach lining; and that 10 per cent of people admitted to hospital, after complications from taking the drug, die, this being 500 to 1000 people a year. My question is, is the drug being prescribed in Canberra, and, secondly, have doctors in Canberra been explaining these possible side effects to patients, particularly the elderly, who are the most common users?
Mr Humphries - the answers to Mr Stevensons questions are:
The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NASAs) are a heterogeneous group of compounds, often chemically unrelated, which nevertheless share certain therapeutic actions and side effects. I have been advised by the Chief Health Officer that ISAIAS have been with us throughout this century, for example, aspirin, and they remain effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
The recent editorial of the November 28, 1990, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association states that NASAs "exhibit very real analgesic and antipyretic actions as well as being anti-inflammatory....are surely our major pharmacological tools in the treatment of rheumatic and arthritic
disorders The NASAs do, however, share certain therapeutic
side effects as well as benefits."
The commonest recognised side effects occurring during therapy. with NASAs are generally gastrointestinal disturbances; these are usually mild and reversible but in some patients it is true that gastric ulcer and severe gastrointestinal bleeding have been reported.
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