Bobby,

 

If there are 500 in the test group and the study group with a 1.25% greater risk for the study group for rates of heart attack, when it's generalized to the number of people that Celebrex or Vioxx are prescribed for, the numbers add up quickly.

Celebrex prescriptions brought in 2.25 billion dollaras, and Vioxx brought in 2.29 billion.  I'm not sure how much the drugs actually cost, but if 1/100 of the total dollar amount represents the number of prescriptions, that's 22.5 milion people for Celebrex, and if 1.25% of these people are suffering heart attacks because of the drugs, that amounts to 281,250 people, or over half the population of the state I live in.  To me, that's an alarming number.

 

Kendall 

 

Date:    Sat, 18 Dec 2004 15:35:29 EST

From:    [log in to unmask]

Subject: Re: FW: Breaking News - Study: Increased risk of heart problems

         fromtaking pa...



One of the first text I read in graduate school was "How to Lie with

Statistics". Let's say there was 500 people were in the Celebrex sample and 500

persons not taking Celebrex. 2.5% of 500 is is around 12.5. If 1.25% of  control had

heart attacks, you have about 6 people, but 12.5 is 100% more than 6.

Therefore,  you have 100% more occurences in the Celebrex sample. But the real

difference is about 6 people!



Bobby

2 1/2% at

risk is not that alarming to me. Of course, I do not take either Vioxx or

Celebrex.



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