The Nation - News from July 8, 1986

The Health and Human Services Department refused to take emergency action against a widely prescribed arthritis drug that is suspected of causing death among the elderly. Officials of the department said that research findings do not support allegations of unreasonable risk from taking the medicine Feldene. HHS Secretary Otis R. Bowen denied a petition that he declare the drug an “imminent hazard” to the health of people 60 and older. The Public Citizen Health Research Group had contended that the drug posed a substantial risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, but the assertions were disputed by Pfizer Inc., manufacturer of Feldene.