Reported adverse reactions to and consumption of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in Denmark over a 17-year period.

Over the 17-year period 1969-1985, 2,721 reports of 3,521 suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were submitted to the Danish Committee on ADRs. The results are presented together with the consumption of each drug during the same period. The total sale of NSAIDs showed a four-fold increase during the 17 years, the average corresponding to a permanent intake by 2.2% of the population. The number of reported ADRs per defined daily dose (DDD) sold was markedly lower for "older" drugs like the butazones, indomethacin, ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, and fenoprofen than for the drugs marketed during the last decade. These differences could not be accounted for by the well-known biases attached to spontaneous ADR reporting. Of 67 fatal reactions, 25 were due to bleeding or perforation of a gastric ulcer, mostly during treatment with indomethacin and naproxen, and in elderly people, and 27 were caused by bone marrow depression or leukaemia, begun mostly during treatment with butazones, but some with indomethacin and naproxen as well. It is pointed out that all reports on fatal bone marrow depression associated with butazones were submitted before 1976 and that the fact that none have been received since that time could be a result of better understanding of the proper dosage of the drug.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)