How much for that doggy (or life) in the window?

[jhetley]

How much is a human life worth? According to a jury, at least $253 million, for a death that is questionably Vioxx-related.

Hey, folks, my sister nearly died from asprin. Oxygen in sufficient concentration can kill you. LIFE is fatal.

Comments

[wolfette]

he was taking it for arthritis...... I wonder what he'd (the deceased) would personally have considered "an appropriate risk" to improve his quality of life? They don't usually prescribe things like Vioxx for "mild to moderate" arthritis. (although they no longer prescribe Vioxx at all).

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

My sister's asprin episode was an attempt to deal with arthritis.

[wolfette]

My arthritis is currently at the "take ibuprofen three times a day to be able to move and paracetemol (acetomenophrine) when the pain gets too bad".

A few years ago my mother-in-law developed "polymyalgia rheumatica" in her late 70s. The steroids usually prescribed for this gave her a form of diabetes, so they put her back on NSAI - which gave her a massive stomach ulcer that nearly killed her. Although the PR has 'burned out' she now suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. The pain levels that even making her way from her bedroom to the living room brings on, she'd probably be quite happy to shorten her lifespan in exchange for less pain *now*. (she's already hinted that she's been stockpiling her pain medication "in case it gets too bad")

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Mother-in-law is, what, *counts on fingers and toes, switches base-system* 87, and takes Bextra. Loosely translated from the Hungarian, she says "So maybe I'm going to worry about an added risk of stroke?"

I know a person using Vioxx who stocked up after the news riot started, so she'd have a reserve when the drug went off the market. The stuff _worked_.