In addition, new prescriptions for naproxen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug also sold over the counter as Aleve, fell 33 percent after a study tied it to possible heart problems, the Wall Street Journal said.

The drop-off in prescriptions shows how quickly patient perception of risk can lead to huge shifts in medical practice, with implications for both their own health as well as that of the pharmaceutical industry.

Statistically, only a relatively small number of the millions taking the medicines are at risk, research shows, but medical science can't definitively say who is or isn't in danger.

Doctors are unable to reassure patients who are crowding their offices and flooding medical-center switchboards with anxious questions about whether their everyday arthritis and headache pills will give them heart attacks.