Forums > General Discussion > Yet again! Celebrex
cvincent says: Feb 3, 2005, 10:57 PM
I feel like a broken record.NEW YORK -- Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. has acknowledged that a 1999 study found Alzheimer's patients taking the pain killer Celebrex were up to four times more likely to have cardiovascular risk factors than those taking a placebo.
The findings prompted a consumer group on Monday to renew its call for the government to ban Pfizer from selling Celebrex, as well as the arthritis drug Bextra.
Public Citizen said Celebrex raised the risk of serious cardiovascular events to 3.6 times that of a placebo. Results from the Alzheimer's study were posted on the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Web site last week. Risk factors included hypertension and diabetes.
Pfizer did not return calls for comment Monday. In a statement, however, it said the Celebrex patients' health problems mean definitive conclusions about cardiovascular risk cannot be drawn from the 1999 study.
Pfizer shares slipped 30 cents to close at $23.86 in Tuesday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. They traded as low as $21.99 in December.
Celebrex and Bextra are part of the family of drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors. Another drug in that group, Vioxx, was withdrawn last fall by its manufacturer, Merck & Co., because of heart problems.
Similar concerns have been expressed about Celebrex and Bextra, but they remain on the market.
Last December, a different study linked Celebrex to increased cardiovascular problems. Pfizer's president of worldwide development, Dr. Joseph Feczko, said the results revealed in that study were not consistent with a "large body of data" that the company had collected.
The Food and Drug Administration has already suggested doctors consider alternatives to prescribing Celebrex, and plans to hold a hearing on the safety of COX-2 inhibitors.
In the 1999 study, two of the 285 patients taking Celebrex had heart attacks, compared with none of the 140 people in the placebo group. Six Celebrex patients had strokes, compared with three in the placebo group. The study failed to show that Celebrex limited the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
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It always seems to be about heart problems. I'll limit my drug use to Ibuprofen and Robatussin. That's all you need.
demigod says: Apr 27, 2005, 2:38 PM
you sound like an old person.i just can't wait till i get that old when i can worry about that kinda crap.i kno no1's looking at this thread cuz it's so old but i just wanna have the last word on all of these threads.Post Reply
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