Well, first it's Vioxx, now Vioxx's cousin, Celebrex! Next, it will probably be Bextra, the other cousin. What amazes me is that Pfizer still hasn't pulled Celebrex off the half, even after their own studies have shown increased heart disease. You'd figure they'd at least be smart enough to flaw their own tests like most other dug companies probably do! lol!

I think Celebrex needs to be pulled off the shelf. But, I'm beginning to think all medicines are poison! Ha! Did I say that? And I'm wanting to be a physician? lol!

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041218/ap_on_bi_ge/pfizer_celebrex. "

I took Celebrex for two months following a bicycle accident that left me with a severe shoulder sprain.

The stuff worked extremely well.

I'm going to be keeping my ear to the ground as to what exactly these increased risks are caused by. Patrick, do you know?

As a Bextra (and former Celebrex) user, I had occasion to write on the Vioxx flap; not being one to toot my own horn, I won't throw in a link here, but I will quote the last paragraph, since I think it's pertinent:

"Merck, on balance, was right to pull Vioxx from the shelves; while the publicity is bad, it would have been much worse had they waited for the FDA to order a recall. Still, it should be remembered — but probably won't be, at least among the general public — that just about anything you put into your mouth, be it a $3 Vioxx tab, a two-cent aspirin, or a Kellogg's Pop-Tart, has a measurable risk factor, and the only way to avoid risk completely is to drop dead."

Although that statement makes sense, the risk with some drugs is more than others. For example, Tylenol has been around awhile...long term studies of Tylenol have shown that it doesn't cause any major health problems. COX-2 inhibitors, however, have all been shown to cause major heart disease in just a short amount of time, at regular doses. Celebrex increased the risk of heart attack and stroke by 2 1/2 times. That's pretty alarming.

And Midtowner, I've been following the literature on the Cox-2 inhibitors....I'm not sure they've found an exact reason yet for the link to heart disease, but I'm sure they soon will.

What do you guys think...should Celebrex be pulled off the market?

I took it for awhile. The stuff works extremely well. If they can be certain that no permenant damage will occur, I see no problem with it. I, for example am in no remote danger of having a heart attack. It just shouldn't be given to individuals with heart disease.

Pulling it off the market, in my opinion would have an effect much like Vioxx. You have attorneys already filing medical malpractice cases without any real evidence. That could end up costing the manufacturer a lot of money.

Maybe they should just recommend it for short term use....then if anyone uses it long term, they're solely responsible for the consequences. Unfortunately, though, there have probably already been several people on it who have experienced heart problems, and didn't know Celebrex was the cause.

It's funny how doctor's prescribe these drugs long term and clinical trials for most of these drugs usually aren't over a few months. It's patients who are the guinea pigs!