Study finds Vioxx, Celebrex fatal for heart patients

Study finds Vioxx, Celebrex fatal for heart patients

Painkillers like Merck's Vioxx and Pfizer's Celebrex, if consumed in high doses, can raise the possibility of death in patients who managed to endure a previous heart attack, according to a study made public at the American Heart Association conference on Sunday.

Dr. Gunnar Gislason, the lead researcher in the study, sponsored by the Danish Heart Foundation and the Danish Pharmaceutical Association stated with clarity that heart patients must not make use of these COX-2 inhibitors.

Gislason based his findings by studying over 58,000 Danish patients who were discharged from hospitals after their first heart attack between1995 and 2002 and were prescribed Vioxx, Celebrex or other NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.)

According to Gislason's research, patients taking 25 milligrams of Vioxx on a daily basis increase their risk of death by five times compared to ones not using this drug. Further, patients consuming 200 mg of Celebrex raise their odds of death by 4.2 times.

Reacting to the research revelations, Merck spokesman Chris Loder was of the view that accurate study of drug safety is normally measured courtesy randomized controlled clinical tests, which is not the case with the research headed by Gislason.

This is not the first time that the drug makers have found themselves in trouble. Back in Sept. 30, 2004, Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market following a clinical research which stated that patients who made use of this drug for over 18 months raise their probability of heart attacks and strokes.

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Merck maintains that the study did not establish any link suggesting that Vioxx consumption lead to deaths. Even so, post pulling its product out of the market, nearly 6,500 lawsuits have been filed against Merck by petitioners blaming heart attacks on Vioxx. Vioxx did managed to garner $2.5 billion in 2003, its last full year on the market.

Pfizer, on the other hand, continued sales of Celebrex which reaped $3.3 billion from sales in 2004. But the Food and Drug Administrations asked the company to carry a precise warning on the product's label after which the amount of prescriptions have taken a dip.

The report did not mention Bextra, another COX-2 inhibitor from Pfizer that stopped sales in April 7, 2005 at the behest of FDA.

Gislason felt that while the results were indeed worrisome there was no need for raising an alarm as fatalities can be prevented if patients with cardiovascular ailments stopped using these drugs and looked for a safer alternative of treatment.