Flavocoxid may cause clinically significant liver injury in some patients, according to study results published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Flavocoxid is a medical food, marketed under the name of Limbrel, for the treatment of osteoarthritis.
Researchers linked 4 cases of liver injury to flavocoxid, based on the records of 877 patients followed by the national Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network. All four people developed signs of liver injury within one to 3 months of starting flavocoxid. The connection to flavocoxid use was considered very likely in 3 of the 4 cases and possible in one of the cases. The good news is that once the product is stopped, liver problems resolve within weeks.
This report will come as a surprise to people who believe that any "natural" product is safe. While it's not known exactly what caused the liver problems, researchers suggested it may be hypersensitivity to natural ingredients in flavocoxid or perhaps unregulated concentrations of some of the ingredients. Flavocoxid (Limbrel) was supposed to work as well as NSAIDs with fewer side effects, but now its safety has been questioned. If you use the product, talk to your doctor.
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This is extremely irresponsible journalism. To say “were being advised to stay away from the product” is ridiculous. You have made the decision to sensationalize by taking the one harmful sentence from an editorial(opinion) from a doctor outside of the U.S. With no knowledge of the medical foods regulation in our country.
Limbrel is an extremely safe anti-inflammatory with a massively lower incidence of liver injury compared with other approved products. This report was done on 877 patients over a 6yr period. This means there were liver injury in 873 patients taking fda approved anti-inflammatories. Any mention of those products??
Speak with educated rheumatologists and physicians in the U.S. and they will tell you the possibility of liver injury due to anti-inflammatories is well known and this is the reason they test for elevated enzymes.
I have removed the sentence about “staying away”…and advised patients to talk to their doctor.