Celebrex Doubles Risk Of Heart Attack And Stroke

CELEBREX DOUBLES RISK OF HEART ATTACK AND STROKE

Pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, recently announced that an increased risk of heart problems were found amongst patients taking the painkiller Celebrex®.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) was conducting the study on Celebrex to determine whether the drug could prevent cancer in patients who previously had colon polyps removed.

The NCI halted the study and suspended use of the drug after finding patients who took high doses of Celebrex increased their risk of heart problems by 2.5 times than people taking a placebo.

As a result, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an advisory to doctors, warning of the potential risks of prescribing Celebrex® to patients.  At present time, Pfizer claimed they would leave Celebrex® on the market, but Acting FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford said the Agency has "great concern about this product (Celebrex®) and the class of products."

Celebrex® is a Cox-2 Inhibitor, the same drug class as the drug Vioxx®, which was pulled from the market in September after being linked to an increased risk of heart deaths, heart attacks and stroke.

SOURCE: Web MD Health, www.my.webmd.com, December 17, 2004;

MSNBC News, www.msnbc.com, December 2004.