Bextra Heart Attack Warning
Bextra made by the world's largest drug
maker Pfizer has been linked to heart attack, stroke and blood
clotting.Bextra is a Cox 2 Inhibitor, a drug class that many
researchers believe interferes with the body's natural ability
to reduce blood clots, thereby increasing heart risks. Bextra
is very popular and has yearly sales of about $690 million.
In December 2004, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required
to company to add a warning about the possibility of heart attacks
and blood clots in heart bypass surgery patients. A study by
the drug maker included 1,500 patients who had just had heart
bypass surgery. The Pfizer study indicated Bextra patients had
a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots in the
legs or lungs.
Although the study was relatively small, it comes just after
one of the largest drug recalls in history of a very similar
drug called Vioxx. Vioxx made by Merck
& Co was pulled from the market in September 2004 studies
indicated the drug nearly doubled the chances of heart attacks
and strokes. Safety concerns plague all the pain killers in this
class of drugs called COX-2 inhibitors, which also include another
Pfizer drug Celebrex.
Stevens Johnson Syndrome
The new FDA warning highlighted in a black box on all Bextra
labels, also links the drug to a potentially fatal skin reaction
called Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS). The FDA is aware of 87
reported SJS cases and other serious skin reactions. 36 of those
patients were hospitalized and four died, according to FDA.