The Nation : Ulcer Drug for Arthritis Sufferers OKd

The Food and Drug Administration announced approval of a new prescription drug it said can prevent stomach ulcers that afflict some of the millions of people who take medicine for arthritis. To be marketed under the trade name Cytotec by G. D. Searle of Skokie, Ill., the drug--misoprostol--is to be labeled for use in patients at high risk for developing complications of stomach ulcers while on arthritis drugs. That would include the elderly and patients of any age with another serious illness. In those high-risk patients, the FDA said, the ulcers may not cause pain and as a result go undetected until they have caused bleeding or other serious consequences. The FDA said there are an estimated 200,000 cases of gastrointestinal bleeding each year--resulting in 10,000 to 20,000 deaths--due to the 68 million prescriptions of non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs--called NSAIDS--used for arthritis.