Medication Celebrex

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A study conducted by the Medical Research Institute in New Zealand has shown that people taking the pain reliever Celebrex have nearly twice the risk of heart attacks as those using other drugs. Celebrex, which is manufactured by Pfizer, Inc., is widely used to treat the pain of arthritis. Celebrex is part of a class of drugs knows as Cox-II Inhibitors. Two other drugs in this same class, Pfizer's Bextra and Merck's Vioxx, were withdrawn from the market because of safety concerns. Vioxx was withdrawn in September 2004, after a study showed it doubled the patient's risk of heart attack and strokes after 18 months of use.

In the recently published report, the researchers reviewed six studies covering 12,780 patients in an effort to determine if the increased risk of cardiovascular problems associated with Vioxx was also present with Celebrex. They found an almost two-fold increased risk of heart attacks with Celebrex compared with other arthritis treatments. According to Professor Richard Beasley, Director of the Medical Research Institute, "these findings are critical" because the risk of Celebrex use is comparable to that associated with the use of Vioxx. The research was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine in New Zealand in March 2006.