Complain about a product or service

Study Finds Celebrex Safer Than Vioxx

December 7, 2004
A study finds Celebrex is safer than Vioxx. But beyond that, there's debate among medical researchers about what the study reveals.

Celebrex • Celebrex May Disrupt Heart Rhythm • Celebrex Gets Black Box Label • FDA Blasts Ads For Celebrex, Bextra • Can Pfizer Prevent Celebrex Ban? • Pfizer Finds Health Risk With Celebrex • Study Finds Celebrex Safer Than Vioxx • Celebrex Implicated in 14 Canadian Deaths --- Other NSAIDs • Merck Withdraws Vioxx • Pfizer Warns of Bextra Risks • Aleve Ingredient Seen as Health Risk •: Dangers of Cox-2 Drugs • Life Without Vioxx

The study conducted by University of Pennsylvania researchers found that Celebrex does not have the same heart attack risk as Vioxx, a cox-2 drug pulled from shelves in September after a study revealed patients who took the drug for more than 18 months doubled their risk of heart attacks and stroke.

"Vioxx had about a threefold greater risk of heart attacks,'' said Dr. Stephen Kimmel, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology and lead author of the study. ``What that implies is that all cox-2 inhibitors may not be the same."

So does that mean Celebrex is safe? Not necessarily. Two Boston doctors say physicians should prescribe cox-2 inhibitors only as a last resort in patients who are at risk for heart attacks.

"We do not really know what triggered the increased heart attack risk in patients. We felt that we cannot exclude that there is a possibility of a cox-2 class effect," said Dr. Axel Finckh, a rheumatology researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital who co-wrote an editorial that accompanied the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study was funded by the makers of both drugs, Pfizer and Merck, and the federal government. Researchers surveyed 1,718 patients in the five-county Philadelphia area who had heart attacks and were treated at one of 36 hospitals, and a comparison group of 6,800 people.

The researchers found that the chances of having a heart attack were 2.72 times greater in Vioxx users than in Celebrex users. But they also found that patients using either drug were not at a significantly greater risk of having a heart attack than those who did not use either drug.

Celebrex users had a lower risk of a heart attack than people who didn't take either drug, but the researchers said could have happened by chance.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Back to the top |

Terms of Use Your use of this site constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use

Advertisements on this site are placed and controlled by outside advertising networks. ConsumerAffairs.com does not evaluate or endorse the products and services advertised. See the FAQ for more information.

Company Response Welcome If complaints about your company appear on our site, we welcome your response. Please see the Response Form for more information.

For more information, see the FAQ and privacy policy. The information on this Web site is general in nature and is not intended as a substitute for competent legal advice.  ConsumerAffairs.com Inc. makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information herein provided and assumes no liability for any damages or loss arising from the use thereof. 

Copyright © 2003-2008 ConsumerAffairs.com Inc.  All Rights Reserved.    The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission.