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Arthritis drugs under scrutiny after Vioxx mistrial
Celebrex safety to be studied under PRECISION trial
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After a report was published in the
British Medical Journal that Cox-2 inhibitor drugs were no better than other
painkillers, Pfizer has decided to spend $100 million to fund PRECISION (Prospective Randomized Evaluation of Celecoxib Integrated Safety vs. Ibuprofen or Naproxen) trial to study the relative safety of three of the most commonly used pain relievers in the treatment of arthritis patients:
ibuprofen
(Motrin),
naproxen (Naprosyn or
Aleve) and celecoxib (Celebrex).
Celebrex is made by Pfizer and now carries a black box warning while the other drug made by the company, Bextra, has since been banned by the
FDA. |
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The third Cox-2 drug,
Vioxx, was recalled by Merck last year after it was found that it was the major cause of heart attacks and strokes among arthritis patients. Both Merck and Pfizer are facing thousands of
product liability lawsuits related to Vioxx, Celebrex, and
Bextra. A study in New Zealand led by Professor
Richard Beasley has reconfirmed that celecoxib doubles the
risk of a heart attack |
| Although the PRECISION trial will be funded by Pfizer, the study will be conducted by the Cleveland Clinic, one of the best hospitals in the world. To avoid any doubts about the fairness of the trial, the Clinic will put in place several safeguards, including bans on
payment from any of the drugmakers. However, in the murky world of drug marketing, you can never be sure.
Merck scientists are being accused by the New England Journal of Medicine of underreporting the number of deaths to make the drug look
safer. And the Wall Street Journal is reporting that many medical journal articles are often written by industry-paid ghost writers. According to the newspaper, "Many of the articles that appear in scientific journals under the bylines of prominent academics, are actually written by ghostwriters in the pay of drug companies...These seemingly objective articles ... are often part of a marketing campaign by companies to promote a product or play up a condition it treats."
Plus, Pfizer's bad reputation is not a big help to
the credibility of the study. The company
broke the law by using Nigerian children as guinea
pigs by administering Trovan to them during an
epidemic. |
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