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Study: Drug Can Be Deadly; Elebrex Under Fire Again

Posted on: Wednesday, 16 February 2005, 21:00 CST

As the federal meeting on controversial painkillers gets under way today, local researchers say the arthritis drug Celebrex can increase the risk of heart problems, and may even cause death.

In a colorectal cancer prevention study, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital found that patients who took Celebrex every day for almost three years had an increased risk of heart problems, including heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and death.

Last fall, another arthritis painkiller and cox-2 inhibitor, Vioxx, was pulled off store shelves. Vioxx has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

Pfizer Inc., the company that makes Celebrex, agreed to halt its consumer advertising but the drug is still available.

The three-day FDA meeting begins today and was called to discuss the safety of these types of drugs.

Celebrex should be taken off the market, said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of the Public Citizen's Health Research Group, which filed a petition to ban Celebrex last month.

"It should be off the market," said Wolfe, who plans to testify tomorrow.

The Brigham and Women's study included 2,000 people who took Celebrex or a placebo for three years.

People prescribed 200 mg twice a day had a 2.3 times greater risk of serious heart problems.

Those who took 400 mg twice a day had a 3.4 times greater risk.

Dr. Scott Solomon, lead author of the study, said the medical community needs to weigh the newfound risks of Celebrex against any potential benefits, which includes relieving pain and preventing tumors.

The findings were published online yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Source: Boston Herald

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