I warned you almost five years ago about Zelnorm, a useless drug marketed to women suffering from one form of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Novartis pulled the plug on the drug late last week based on FDA reports patients who used Zelnorm faced an elevated risk of cardiovascular problems, including stroke, heart attack and chest pains.
Based on the combined results of 29 studies submitted by Novartis to the FDA, 13 out of some 11,600 patients who took Zelnorm suffered from serious cardiovascular side effects versus just one out of more than 7,000 taking a placebo.
Although the FDA claimed those side effects were a very rare event, the agency's Office of New Drugs still ruled the few benefits no longer outweighed Zelnorm's risks. Too bad, the FDA hasn't gotten around to scrutinizing more popular drugs with curious side effects like Ambien or various antidepressants.
There's absolutely no reason to risk your health on a drug to treat IBS, especially when you can get your intestines back on track by following some safe and simple steps, like retooling your diet according to your body's unique nutritional type.
CBS News March 30, 2007