Here’s a link from AskAPatient.com, a consumer-based website that allows people to post what they believe are side-effects from their medications. Although there is no validation that reported side-effects are always from the medication, there is usually a trend that can be followed along with some activity by the person helping to point the finger of suspicion at a particular medication. One way to strengthen an argument that a medication is responsible for a life-altering side-effect is to stop it, and then monitor how you feel and function. This report is on Crestor, not that I’m picking on Crestor, but it speaks well to how the medication is most likely responsible for such severe pain that it prevented this 86 year old women from being able to care for herself. In the final analysis, one would want to consider restarting the Crestor and see if the same side-effect returns. If it does, then we have further strengthened the argument that the drug is responsible. These reports also strengthen the argument that people with changes in how they feel and function, especially after starting a new medication, should report them to their physician and not take no for an answer until there has been a rigorous process to verify if the medication may be responsible. A simple shrug of the shoulders or a “I think not” reply should not suffice.
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=21366&name=CRESTOR
