Back pain medications…safe?

Back pain treatment information
Orange, CA
Back pain specialist Dr Barry L Marks, DC
Author of “Cure for Lower Back Pain”

Many regard taking medications for lower back pain to be safe and with little risk. Afterall, it is the first course of treatment in traditional medical treatment of back pain.

But are medications really safe?

Here are a few drug facts to consider:

• According to Canadian researchers, approximately 32,000 hospitalized patients (and possibly as many as 106,000) in the USA die each year because of adverse reactions to their prescribed medications. (Source: AMA, 1998), Nov. 25, 1998, Vol. 280, No. 20, from the web at http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v280n20/ffull/jlt1125-1.html, last accessed Feb. 12, 2001.)
• OTC medications as a category are responsible for more than 150,000 hospitalizations every year, according to the Food and Drug Administration, and almost 1000 OTC medications have been linked to liver toxicity, which causes about 2000 deaths annually in the United States (Ford MD et al 2001).
• More than 30,000 cases per year of acetaminophen overdose are reported to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (Bartlett D 2004).
• NSAIDs results in approximately 107,000 hospitalizations annually for gastrointestinal complications and 16,500 deaths for arthritis patients (Peura DA 2002).

Obviously popping a pill is not without risk. If you are suffering from back pain or arthritis be sure to investigate proven alternative methods that minimize your exposure to dangerous drugs.

For more on back pain treatment go to “Cure for Lower Back Pain”