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Celebrex prescriptions fallen by nearly half

December 31, 2004

After a government-led study linked the use of popular arthritis painkiller Celebrex to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes just two weeks ago, new prescriptions for the drug have fallen by nearly half.

The reduced number of Celebrex prescriptions was anticipated after the news of cardiovascular events so closely followed the Vioxx recall. Vioxx was Merck & Co.'s rival arthritis painkiller that belonged to the same class of cox-2 inhibitor drugs as Celebrex, but it was withdrawn from the market after a study found it doubled patients' risk of heart attacks and strokes in September.

After the Vioxx recall, Pfizer announced in October that two studies showed its other cox-2 inhibitor Bextra increased the risk of cardiovascular problems in coronary bypass operation patients. The latest Celebrex safety concerns to emerge at the end of December have made doctors and patients weary about prescribing or using any cox-2 drugs.

Though Pfizer agreed at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to stop advertising Celebrex directly to consumers, data from a firm that tracks pharmaceutical promotions to doctors, ImpactRx, revealed the company has intensified its sales calls to physicians.

Celebrex's share of new arthritis drug prescriptions fell to 7.9 percent for the week ending December 24, a drop from 14.2 percent a week earlier.

For more information on the Celebrex warnings, please contact us to confer with a Celebrex Lawyer and learn your legal rights and options.

 

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