Celebrex Lawyers

On Dec. 17, 2004, Pfizer announced a long-term study on Celebrex also suggested an increased risk of heart attack. The findings came in one of two long-term cancer prevention trials, while the other trial showed no increased risk.

In the study, Pfizer was using doses of Celebrex up to twice as high as those currently recommended for rheumatoid arthritis patients.

At those doses, cancer patients involved in the new trial were experiencing "an approximately 2.5-fold increase in their risk of experiencing a major fatal or non-fatal cardiovascular event compared to those patients taking placebo," Pfizer said in a statement posted on its website.

But Pfizer did not follow Merck's lead in pulling the drug off the market. The company says the study that found an increased risk of cardiovascular problems is not consistent with other studies Pfizer and other companies have accumulated over time.

"Celebrex is an important medicine that provides necessary pain relief to many patients," the company said on its website. "Patients…should discuss appropriate treatment options with their healthcare professionals. Physicians should factor this new information as well as ulcer risks and gastrointestinal bleeding seen with traditional NSAIDs, into their prescribing decision."

In the wake of the Pfizer announcement, The New England Journal of Medicine posted a letter from three American researchers, who called for an end to the prescribing of Bextra – "except in extraordinary circumstances." The researchers cited the studies that led to the new warning labels ordered by the FDA and Health Canada.

Meanwhile, queries put through Canada's Adverse Drug Reaction Database have shown 456 serious adverse reactions to Celebrex up to April 2004. Of those, 76 were related to cardiovascular/ cerebrovascular (heart attack/stroke) problems. Of the 456 total serious reactions connected to Celebrex, there were 30 deaths. Fourteen of those deaths were from heart attack or stroke.

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