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At least 12 people are thought to have died in Belgium as a result of taking the painkiller Vioxx®.
According to a senior advisor to Belgian Health Minister Rudy Demotte, it is "probable" that the 12 patients died as a direct result of taking the drug, La Derniere Heure reported recently.
"There is a possible relation with Vioxx® - possible and even probable, given that on the whole they died from gastrointestinal hemorrhage, a classic side-effect from taking this type of medicine," said Dr. Johan Kips, who coordinates the medicines section of Demotte's private office.
According to La Derniere Heure, Belgian doctors have registered a total of 357 reports of worrying side effects in patients who took Vioxx®. The majority of cases, which were reported to the Belgian centre responsible for drug safety, concerned gastrointestinal hemorrhages, loss of blood in cells, abdominal and chest pain, ulcers and serious headaches.
Vioxx® first became available in Belgium in 1999 but it was withdrawn from sale across the world last September after the medical authorities in the U.S. said they were seriously concerned about the drug's safety. In 2004, some 30,000 Belgians were treated with the drug.
Kips has advised Belgian doctors who are still prescribing similar painkiller medications, such as Celebrex®, to do so with caution.
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