Pfizer said today that it would immediately stop advertising Celebrex to consumers after a study showed that high doses of the drug, the companies best-selling arthritis pain reliever.
For many Americans, Fridays announcement about Celebrex link to heart problems makes whats behind the drug counter all the more frightening and confusing. In addition to Vioxx, the list of major drug recalls in recent years is getting long.
Thousands of Canadians who rely on a new generation of painkillers have been left in medical limbo after the worlds biggest drug maker warned that yet another blockbuster medication may pose serious safety risks.
Patients in the clinical trial taking 400 mg. of Celebrex twice daily had a 3.4 times greater risk of CV events compared to placebo. For patients in the trial taking 200 mg. of Celebrex twice daily, the risk was 2.5 times greater.
Pfizer Inc. said it has found an increased risk of heart problems with patients taking its painkiller Celebrex, a drug that is in the same class as the Vioxx, which was pulled from the market in September because of safety concerns.
Pfizer Inc. it had no plans to pull the popular painkiller Celebrex off the market despite data showing that patients using the drug in a long-term cancer study had more than double the risk of a heart attack.
Just days before a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee meets to discuss the future of Celebrex, Bextra and related arthritis drugs, the agency's Australian counterpart has introduced tough new measures to limit their use.
