- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pfizer
Chief Executive Hank McKinnell said on Sunday doctors should be made aware
of the health risks in prescribing Celebrex to their patients, but the
company does not plan to recall its popular arthritis drug.
-
- Pfizer Inc. on Friday said Celebrex 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.
-
- "We're leaving Celebrex on the market because it
is an appropriate option for many, many patients," McKinnell said
on ABC's "This Week." "Physicians do need to be fully advised
of the risks and particularly this new information."
-
- The Food and Drug Administration on Friday urged doctors
to consider prescribing alternatives to Celebrex. The agency said it would
have more announcements about Celebrex in the next few days.
-
- Dr. David Graham, associate director for science in the
FDA's Office of Drug Safety, criticized the agency for failing to protect
the public from dangerous drugs.
-
- "The FDA, I believe, is more concerned with getting
drugs on to the market than it is in getting safe drugs on to the market,"
Graham said on the same television program.
-
- Merck recalled Vioxx on Sept. 30 after a study found
that a long-term use of the drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Both Celebrex and Vioxx belong to a class of drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors.
They work by selectively blocking a protein called COX-2 that has been
linked to inflammation.
-
- Pfizer said the Celebrex trial, sponsored by the National
Cancer Institute, involved patients taking 400-milligram and 800-milligram
daily doses of the drug to prevent tumors known as adenomas that grow from
glandular tissue. High doses of the anti-inflammatory drug were being tested
on the theory that inflammation is a cause of cancer.
-
- Celebrex is one of Pfizer's biggest products, with 2003
sales of $1.9 billion.
-
- Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
-
- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=7132536
|
