Study Shows Different Heart Effects of COX Drugs

Mon Dec 6, 2004 05:01 PM ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who take Merck & Co. Inc.'s analgesic Vioxx are nearly three times as likely to have heart attacks as those taking Pfizer Inc.'s Celebrex, according to an independent study published on Monday.

While this suggests there may be some important differences among the drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors, the researcher who led the study says more work is needed to see whether some COX-2 inhibitors may be safer than others.

The study is another in a series that have followed the discovery that Vioxx may raise the risk of heart attacks in at least some people who take it.

The finding was ironic because the COX-2 class of drugs was designed to be safer than older analgesics such as aspirin or ibuprofen, which raise the risk of often fatal stomach or intestinal bleeding.

"At this point the evidence is that there are differences between Vioxx and Celebrex. Does that mean Celebrex is safe? I cannot tell you," said Dr. Stephen Kimmell of the University of Pennsylvania, who led the study.

When Kimmell's team compared people who took either Vioxx or Celebrex ... Writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine, ... COX-2 inhibitors to a government-funded study ... NSAIDS... Pfizer and Merck paid for some of the added research ... use of COX inhibitors and NSAIDS... who use Vioxx have almost a three-fold higher risk of non-fatal heart attacks as people who use Celebrex, ... Vioxx or Celebrex separately compared to people taking NSAIDS or no analgesic, they found no increased risk of heart attack. ... people were taking (Vioxx or Celebrex) for less than 12 months ... higher risk of heart disease, ... studies add to a growing body of evidence that COX-2 inhibitors should only be used by a limited group of people. ... who should ever have been on these drugs ... avoid prescribing COX-2 inhibitors to patients who have a risk of heart disease. ... triggering an increased risk of heart problems in patients taking some COX-2 inhibitors,

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