Bextra Lawsuit Research: Bextra Breaking News

Bextra (Valdecoxib), can have dangerous and deadly side effects. Find the latest breaking Bextra news here. If you feel you have suffered from Bextra use, please fill out this simple form and a client relations representative will review your case within 48 hours.

The link between some painkillers and heart attacks

April 18, 2006  (orlandosentinel.com)

We already knew that certain painkillers are connected to a higher rate of heart attacks. Now scientists have a theory to explain why. They say the so-called "COX-2 inhibitors" increase blood pressure and make the blood more likely to clot. The problem stems from the way the drugs reduce the amount of a protective fat - called prostacyclin - in the bloodstream.

PFIZER INC.: FDA: Bextra side effects are `potentially' life-threatening

February 9, 2006 (chicagotribune.com)

WASHINGTON -- Pfizer Inc.'s pain pill Bextra should be kept off the market permanently because of potentially life-threatening side effects, federal regulators said Wednesday.

Food and Drug Administration staff members concluded that the drug has greater health risks than similar painkillers, including Pfizer's Celebrex and Merck & Co.'s withdrawn Vioxx, according to documents posted on the agency's Web site.

VIOXX: ITALIAN CONSUMERS START CLASS ACTION AGAINST MERCK

September 1, 2005 (agi.it)

Rome, Italy, Sep 1 - Italian customers having been prescribed Vioxx produced by pharmaceutical company Merck can contact Italian consumer association Codacons if they wish to partake in the class-action in US courts. The case is being brought to bear after the drug was found to have damaging side-effects. Choosing US courts de facto sets a limit to the time available to submit for damages. "According to Food and Drug Administration reports Vioxx has been deemed responsible for the death of some 27 thousand persons due to sudden heart attack", reads a Codacons communique'. Codacons also specifies that the interests of some 100 Italian citizens have been brought to bear. "The pharmaceutical company has been forced by Illinois judge - says Chicago based Codancons lawyer Kenneth Moll - to pay 250 million dollars to the families of the victims for having deliberately covered up the nature of the drug's negative side-effects". In the US alone some 240 thousand citizens are claiming damages. The courts are yet to designate eligibility criteria. According to Codacons as many as 3.5 million Italians may have taken Vioxx at some stage. Codacons has also drawn up a blacklist of dangerous drugs: 28 drugs in all, 15 active ingredients; top of the list are Bextra (valdecobix) and celebrex (celecobix) leading to requests by consumers and the Italian drug agency AIFA for them to be banned.

U.S. Asks Pfizer for Celebrex, Bextra Documents

August 15th, 2005 (14wfie.com)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked Pfizer Inc. for information about two of its painkillers, Celebrex and Bextra, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The company wouldn't elaborate, except to say it is cooperating with the request, which was made in the second quarter of this year, the wire service said. Both drugs belong to a class of painkillers called cox-2 inhibitors, which also includes the Merck and Co. drug Vioxx. Bextra and Vioxx have been withdrawn from U.S. markets after research linked them to higher rates of heart attack and stroke in long-term users.

Pfizer Suspends Sales of Bextra

April 7, 2005 (abcnews.com)

Scientist May Up Vioxx Estimates

January 3, 2005 (mercurynews.com)

The Financial Times reports that Food and Drug Administration scientist David Graham has vowed to publish research that suggests up to 139,000 Americans died or have been seriously injured as a result of taking the drug.

FDA Urges Caution with COX-2 Drugs

December 28, 2004 (technewsworld.com)

The FDA issued a Public Health Advisory about the use of NSAIDs, including the COX-2 inhibitors such as Celebrex and Bextra, in light of recent study findings that these drugs can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke when taken for long periods of time or in large doses.

More heart risks found for COX-2 inhibitors

December 27, 2004 (ama-assn.org)

New information on Bextra has placed it under a similar cloud of suspicion. Correspondence released early by the New England Journal of Medicine strongly cautioned doctors against prescribing Bextra "until there are convincing data supporting its cardiovascular safety."

Banning a drug carrying some risk is not always best prescription

December 27, 2004 (news.yahoo.com)

Three months ago, a study confirmed fears that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attack and stroke. Now Vioxx is off the market, pulled by its manufacturer, and last Thursday the FDA urged doctors to limit prescriptions for Celebrex and Bextra.

Take drugs off the market

December 27, 2004 (usatoday.com)

Decisions to approve or remove drugs must be based on adequate evidence of both benefits and risks. For Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra - the three COX-2 inhibitor pain/arthritis drugs - at approval there was no evidence that they were more effective than older drugs.

U.S. Urges Limiting Use of Pfizer's Celebrex, Bextra

December 23, 2004 (news.yahoo.com)

U.S. health regulators recommended on Thursday that doctors limit prescribing painkillers like Pfizer Inc.'s Celebrex and Bextra, in light of recent evidence that they may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Public Citizen to Call on FDA to Ban Celebrex and Bextra

Statement of Dr. Sidney Wolfe, Director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group

December 17, 2004 (commondreams.org)

Even before today’s announcement by Pfizer about the heart attack risks associated with Celebrex, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group was preparing a petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban both Celebrex and the other Pfizer COX-2 drug, Bextra. In February 2001, we testified at an FDA advisory committee hearing that the cardiac risks of Celebrex (and Vioxx) demanded a black box warning for both drugs. Two months later, in the April 2001 issue of our newsletter Worst Pills, Best Pills News (now online at worstpills.org), we urged patients not to use either drug because there are safer alternatives.

Pfizer's Celebrex Lifts Heart Attack Risk in Trial

December 17, 2004 (metronews.ca)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc. on Friday said its popular Celebrex arthritis drug more than doubled the risk of heart attack in a large cancer-prevention trial, a setback that comes just weeks after Merck & Co. recalled its similar Vioxx drug due to heart safety risks.

Painful Pain Drugs

December 17, 2004 (www.fool.com)

It's ironic now but, at the time of the Vioxx recall, many thought Pfizer's COX-2 inhibitors -- Celebrex and Bextra -- would benefit. Pfizer's stock, though, has drifted down since the Vioxx news.

DRUG RISKS, CONT'D

December 14, 2004 (washingtonpost.com)

Pfizer's painkiller Bextra, one of five drugs said by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official last month to have underpublicized risks, will carry a new warning about the possibility of heart attacks and blood clots in patients who have undergone heart bypass surgery.

Health Watch

December 13, 2004 (nbc5.com)

There's a new heart warning being added to Pfizer's painkiller, Bextra.

The Food and Drug Administration says the warning is about the possibility of heart attacks and blood clots in patients who've just had heart bypass surgery.

In addition, the Bextra label will bear a "black box" that warns about a potentially fatal skin reaction known as Steven Johnson Syndrome.

Pfizer says all of this information had previously been shared with the medical community.

OTC meds easy to get -- and abuse

December 8, 2004 (southbendtribune.com)

Another cautionary note regards the heightened danger of stomach irritation and bleeding for people mixing arthritis meds such as Celebrex and Bextra with nonsteroidals, which work similarly, he explains. Also beware of using nonsteroidals while taking ACE inhibitors for high blood pressure; the blood pressure medication's effects can be blunted.

Merck's 2005 Earnings Will Fall After Loss of Vioxx

Dec. 8, 2004 (Bloomberg)

Vioxx is part of a class of drugs known as Cox-2 inhibitors designed to inhibit the Cox-2 enzyme, which is linked to pain and swelling, while sparing a related enzyme that protects the stomach from ulcers. Cox-2 inhibitors, which also include Pfizer Inc.'s Celebrex and Bextra painkillers, can cost more than $2 a capsule, compared with cents for over-the-counter pain pills such as ibuprofen.

Life Without Vioxx

December 8, 2004 (Forbes.com)

Merck's problems with the so-called Cox-2 inhibitor have spilled over to Pfizer, which has two drugs in the class, Celebrex and Bextra. While no heart risk has yet emerged for Celebrex, and Pfizer recently reaffirmed its guidance for 2004, some observers of the pharmaceuticals sector believe that Merck may be better positioned to recover from the concerns over the drugs

Coxibs have different cardiovascular risk profiles

December 8, 2004 (Onlypunjab.com)

In other coxib news, the product labeling for valdecoxib (Bextra-Pfizer) has been updated to include a contraindication in patients after coronary bypass surgery.

Review of arthritis drugs raises questions about role of regulators

December 7, 2004 (cbc.ca)

Another COX-2 inhibitor, Bextra, was associated with a doubling of risk for heart attacks and strokes among heart disease patients, according to Dr. Curt Furberg, a professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Over the counter drugs are easy to abuse

Bremerton Sun, WA

"Another cautionary note regards the heightened danger of stomach irritation and bleeding for people mixing arthritis meds like Celebrex and Bextra with nonsteroidals..."

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see also:

Breaking news Breaking Lawsuit Resource Center: Bextra Breaking News
Bextra (Valdecoxib) Resource Center: Bextra Breaking News

About the Bextra Recall Bextra lawyers - about the FDA Bextra recall
Bextra Withdrawal: Letter to clients about the FDA Bextra recall

News & Warnings Breaking News Center: Bextra Lawsuit & Warnings from Attorney
Bextra (Valdecoxib) Lawsuit: Bextra News & Warnings from Attorney