More news on Celebrex -- not making this stuff up Posted by Rob at 04/29/06 06:39 PM

The NY Times reports that Pfizer is starting up print ads for Celebrex after more than a year.

The story begins:

The ads for the Pfizer painkiller Celebrex feature a man holding a boy's hand as they walk up a stadium staircase. "52 steps won't keep you from taking him out to the ballgame," they say.

But a heart attack would.

Each ad includes a boldface warning that begins, "Important Information: Celebrex may increase the chance of a heart attack or stroke that can lead to death."

You may recall recently Pfizer announced an increase in sales for the drug, the same week that a jury awarded $32 million for the death of a man who had taken a different COX-2 drug, Vioxx, and a year after the FDA issued a strong warning about these types of drugs and a risk of cardiovascular events.

The new ads for Celebrex contain a pretty scary warning but the question remains whether people will heed it. Does the fact that it is advertised imply it is safe enough? Is the risk warned about so frightening that people will ignore it altogether?

Dr. Sid Wolfe of Public Citizen said:

"There's no objective evidence of any unique benefit with this drug, and there is objective evidence of a unique risk,"

Pfizer justifies the ads by saying the drug is "an important option" for patients. Maybe, but as the Times article notes:

When it was introduced in 1998, Celebrex was thought to be safer for the stomach than older painkillers like naproxen, whose brand name is Aleve. But Celebrex's stomach benefits have never been proved, and clinical trials have repeatedly linked Celebrex to heart problems. In addition, Celebrex is far more expensive than the older painkillers, costing about $3 a pill, compared with a few cents for naproxen or ibuprofen.

I'd like to think that, at least intellectually, we know that the newest, most expensive, or best advertised isn't necessarily the best, especially when it comes to prescription medicines.

But the potent combination of ads to consumers and marketing to physicians has led to some very strange results. The rise of the COX-2 drugs like Vioxx and Celebrex are among the best examples: new, expensive, well advertised drugs, lacking evidence that they were better than older, cheaper meds. Still, they became enormous blockbusters and may have resulted in thousands experiencing heart attacks, strokes, or other serious problems -- including death.

comments (1)

1 Posted by Celebrex Side Effects at 10/17/08 02:26 AM

My name is Jane Eaton and i would like to show you my personal experience with Celebrex.

I have taken for 11 months. I am 39 years old. Celebrex works too well, which is why it is so dangerous. It is one of the most effective things you can take for arthritis-type issues, and for controlling inflammation/pain after knee surgery. But the side effects are very extreme: intestinal bleeding/perforation, heart problems, and liver toxicity. I am allergic to Ibuprofen and Alleve, so Clebrex was a life saver. But I am not willing to sacrifice my liver for it. The ER staff told me that they see very serious side effects in Celebrex patients.

Side effects-
I ended up in the emergency room in extreme pain and hyperventilating because of liver problems.

I hope this information will be useful to others,
Jane Eaton