1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (89 page)

671

FACT :
The drug Vasotec (enalapril) was developed to lower high blood pressure and treat congestive heart failure, but
it can also have a detrimental effect on almost all of your senses
, including loss of smell and taste, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), blurred vision, and dry eyes.
Dying has a detrimental effect on the senses, too, so take your pick.

“Vasotec: Drug Description,” RxList,
www.rxlist.com
.

672

FACT :
Viagra (sildenafil), a treatment for erectile dysfunction, can cause blurred vision and problems distinguishing between green and blue.

Researchers suspect that
Viagra users are at risk for permanent loss of vision
because the drug cuts off the flow of blood from the optic nerve, a condition called nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).
I wonder where all that blood goes instead?

“About Viagra,”
Viagra.com
,
www.viagra.com
.

“Viagra Can Cause Permanent Vision Loss in Some Men, University of Minnesota Researchers Say,” Medical News Today, March 31, 2005,
www.medicalnewstoday.com
.

673

FACT :
Xenical (orlistat) prevents the body from absorbing fat, decreasing the caloric intake of users.

Test trials showed that up to 30 percent of ingested fat was excreted unabsorbed by subjects. Side effects of the drug include “
gas with oily discharge
, an increased number of bowel movements, an urgent need to have them, and an inability to control them.”
Which is why Xenical’s street name is “White Castle.”

“Important Safety Information,”

Xenical.com
,
www.xenical.com
.

674

FACT :
Lariam (mefloquine), a malaria drug administered to American servicemen overseas, is believed
to be the cause of some soldiers’ suicidal tendencies
. It is known to cause “neuropsychiatric adverse events.” Even Lariam’s maker, Roche Pharmaceuticals, warns, “Some patients taking Lariam think about killing themselves.”
Other patients taking Lariam think about killing people at Roche Pharmaceuticals.

David Kohn, “The Dark Side Of Lariam,” CBS News, January 29, 2003,
www.cbsnews.com
.

Associated Press, “Hallucinations Linked to Drug Given to Troops,”
MSNBC.com
, February 14, 2005,
www.msnbc.msn.com
.

675

FACT : Many patients have reported suicidal thoughts
while taking the antidepressant Paxil (paroxetine). Lawsuits allege Paxil has severe withdrawal symptoms that, in some, resulted in suicide and attempted suicide. Evidence in one lawsuit shows GlaxoSmithKline, the drug’s manufacturer, might have concealed data linking the drug to these effects.
“Paxil. I’d rather die than switch.”

“FDA Statement Regarding the Anti-Depressant Paxil for Pediatric Population,” FDA Talk Paper, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, June 19, 2003,
www.fda.gov
.

“Glaxo Sued for ‘Drug Claim Fraud’,”
BBCNews.com
, June 2, 2004,
www.howstuffworks.com
.

676

FACT :
Over 40 suicides and 400 suicide attempts are linked to Chantix (varenicline), an anti-smoking drug. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has come under attack for recruiting soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan
as subjects in tests on Chantix
after the FDA issued warnings about the drug’s possible violent side effects.
They never said how Chantix stopped people from smoking, just that it could.

Maddy Sauer and Vic Walter, “Tough Questions for VA on Suicide-Linked Chantix,” ABC News, July 8, 2008,
www.abcnews.com
.

677

FACT :
The drug thalidomide is infamous for its link to birth defects.
Though never proven to be safe
, the drug was a popular sleeping aid and anti-nausea pill in the 1950s, taken by thousands of pregnant women around the world. From 1956 to 1962, almost 10,000 women who were administered thalidomide delivered babies with phocomelia, a congenital disorder that causes children to be born with extremely short or missing limbs.
I’m guessing their nausea and insomnia returned after those births.