Bextra – Product Recall
On Apr-07-05 the FDA asked the maker of Bextra, Pfizer, to remove the pain medication from shelves across the United States. Canada Health quickly followed suit and asked Pfizer to also remove Bextra
from Canadian shelves. Pfizer has also suspended sales of Bextra in
the European Union.
IMPORTANT PLEASE READ
If you feel you have been harmed by the use of Bextra
Click Here to Contact a Professional Attorney
experienced with Bextra Cases.
Bextra has been prescribed to arthritis sufferers to relieve symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Bextra is classified as a Cox-2 inhibitor, a newly developed
drug in the Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory (NSAID) family. To date, several Cox-2 inhibitors have
been banned due to the increased risk of stroke, heart attack, stomach ulcers, liver damage, and severe
skin reactions among patients.
On Jan-29-05, health care giant Kaiser Permanente, an HMO serving 2.6 million Californians, stopped prescribing Bextra to its patients.
"This is not a drug that saves lives,'' said Dr. Sharon Levine, a pediatrician who oversees medication usage for Kaiser Permanente's Northern California division. "it's a drug that provides a modest degree
of pain relief -- no better than Motrin -- and the size of the risk, given the benefit provided, did not seem warranted.''
On Oct-18-04, Pfizer admitted that two small clinical trials showed heart bypass surgery patients taking Bextra had a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.
On Nov-11-04, University of Pennsylvania researchers told the American Heart Association that a recent clinical trial revealed that patients taking Bextra had more than twice the incidence of heart attack
and stroke than nonusers.
On Dec-10-04 the FDA increased the warning on Bextra labels to include a "black box" warning against using the medication for patients with cardiac problems.
University of Pennsylvania pharmacologist Dr. Garret FitzGerald claims "The magnitude of [cardiac problems] with Bextra is even higher than what we saw in Vioxx." Bextra's risk appeared to pose a slightly
higher risk than Vioxx for heart attack and stroke. FitzGerald
believes that the same mechanism that makes the Cox-2 inhibitor drugs easier on the stomach also blocks a substance that prevents heart
problems.
If you feel you were harmed from any type of legal drug file a suit by contacting an attorney.
Bextra Class Action Lawsuit
