Pfizer defends arthritis drug

PFIZER chief executive Hank McKinnell yesterday said 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.

Dr David Graham, associate director for science in the FDA’s Office of Drug Safety, criticised 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 September 30 after a study found that a long-term use of the drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke.