July/August 2010 - Dogs Naturally Magazine

Clear Benefits
Meanwhile, dog owners were asking for Rimadyl. ""It was their
advertising that sold me on the drug,"" says Michelle Walsh, a
Phoenix woman who says her miniature schnauzer was given it
and later died.
Not that vets needed much convincing. They saw clear benefits
from the drug. On top of that, they could get points from Pfizer
for each Rimadyl purchase they made; points were redeemable for
PalmPilots, Zip drives for PCs and other equipment.
Although Pfizer's letter told vets to explain to owners the signs of
a bad reaction to Rimadyl, such as vomiting, lethargy or diarrhea,
it is evident that a great many didn't. The FDA's Dr. Keller says,
"There are a lot of veterinarians who don't think they need to take
the time, or who forget, or for whatever reason are not providing
animal owners with this information."
Donna Allen, whose chow-mix, Maggie, started on Rimadyl last
summer, says, ""All my vet did was give me this little bag of pills,
with no information."" She says ""Maggie didn't want to take it,
but I made her.""
After four weeks, Maggie began to vomit violently, Ms. Allen
says. The dog vanished from their home outside Birmingham,
AL, and later was found lying in a ditch. Ms. Allen loaded her into
a truck and sped 35 miles to a veterinary clinic, but the five-yearold
dog died. Her vet wouldn't implicate Rimadyl in the death
until Ms. Allen urged him to send the dog's internal organs to the
University of Illinois vet school, where an examination showed
liver toxicity.
Maggie was buried under a marker adorned with the figure of an
angel. Ms. Allen took to the streets, delivering a letter to all the
vets in the area urging them to ""understand that Rimadyl helps
certain dogs, but it is poison to other dogs.""
The D-Word
As the complaints poured in, the FDA told Pfizer it would have
to revisit the label issue. Pfizer had referred to ""fatal outcomes""
on the label as a possible effect of the drug class to which Rimadyl
belonged, but not specifically of this drug. Now the agency
asked that Pfizer cite ""death"" prominently as a possible side
effect of the drug. Describing the back and forth with Pfizer, the
FDA's Dr. Keller says, ""They did it. They weren't enthusiastic
about it, but they have always been cooperative. And that's part of
the nature of the game we play with industry.""
But the FDA also wanted the word ""death"" in the audio of
commercials. Pfizer indicated this ""would be devastating to the
product,"" FDA minutes of a February 1999 meeting show. A
company spokesman says that ""putting 'death' on a 30-second
commercial and in proper context was something we didn't think
was possible."" Rather than do so, Pfizer eventually pulled the
commercials.
Pfizer says it now will do traditional marketing to vets, making
sure they know the proper way to use the drug. Another ""Dear
Doctor"" letter will soon go out, and the company will start attaching
a safety sheet to pill packages.
Pfizer acknowledges it has a perception problem with some dog
owners; a consumer group, for instance, has mounted a campaign
dubbed BARKS, for Be Aware of Rimadyl's Known Side-effects.
The company is contacting dog owners who have told their stories
on the Internet, and it is offering to pay medical and diagnostic
expenses for some dogs who may have been harmed by Rimadyl.
But Pfizer stands firmly behind the value of the drug, of which it
says sales have continued to grow. Most vets also remain strongly
behind Rimadyl. Owners, too, generally say they think the drug is
important -- they just want to know the risks.
Atlantan Roger Williams gave his mixed-breed terrier, William,
Rimadyl for more than a year and believes it contributed to the
dog's death. ""But if I had to do it all over, I would give my dog
Rimadyl again,"" he says. ""The difference is I would have known
what to expect. Without Rimadyl, William was miserable. And
what's the point of living another three years if you're miserable?""
Dogs...Naturally! July/August 2010