Dangerous Liaisons: Drugs At War

At first, a 71-year-old patient was feeling better after he began taking Celebrex to relieve pain in an arthritic hip. But he was hospitalized a week later because he was feeling weak and nauseous, and his stools had become loose and dark. He was feeling fine in the six months prior to his hospitalization, even though he had a history of atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, heart failure, mini-strokes, gout, and heartburn. For these pre-existing…