Lawsuit alleging mans death caused by BEXTRA Drug

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Pfizer

Hit With Bextra Lawsuit

 

 

By Robert

Steyer

TheStreet.com Staff Reporter

11/16/2004 4:13 PM EST

For complete information go to:

http://www.thestreet.com/stocks/biotech/10194699.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated from 3:19 p.m. EST

Pfizer (PFE:NYSE

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was hit by a lawsuit alleging its arthritis and pain reliever drug

Bextra was responsible for the death of a 46-year-old New Jersey man

who used the drug for nine months.

It's unclear if the lawsuit, filed in a New York state court, is the

first of its kind against Bextra.

The

suit claims that "Pfizer has not acted responsibly and has failed to

adequately and timely warn consumers about the life-threatening side

effects associated with Bextra," according to a statement by the two

laws firms that filed the suit.

Bextra has recently drawn

attention because of possible side effects, including a rare but

potentially fatal skin rash, as well as some research that says Bextra

patients undergoing cardiac bypass surgery had a higher risk of

heart-related complications. However, Bextra is not approved in the

U.S. in any surgery-related care.

Pfizer has released research

showing that there are no increases in cardiovascular risks among

patients who took Bextra for between six weeks and 52 weeks.

The press release issued by the two law firms did not describe the

alleged victim's overall health or whether he had undergone surgery.

However, the attorneys cited a report last week by researchers at an

American Heart Association conference in New Orleans that people taking

Bextra had a 2.19 times greater risk of heart attacks and strokes

compared with people who took placebos.

Pfizer has previously

said that research "draws unsubstantiated conclusions about the

cardiovascular safety" of Bextra and "is based on information that has

not been published in a medical journal or subject to independent

scientific review." The cardiologist who presented the study was quoted

by The New York Times as saying Bextra "is a time bomb waiting

to go off." The researcher said the "magnitude of the signal with

Bextra is even higher than what we saw in Vioxx."

 

 

 

The lawsuit against Pfizer comes amid a wave product liability

lawsuits filed against Merck (MRK:NYSE

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following its recall of its arthritis drug Vioxx on Sept. 30. Both

Vioxx and Bextra belong to the same class of drugs called COX-2

inhibitors.

Pfizer reported on Oct. 15 that it would conduct

long-term tests on Bextra's cardiovascular effects. Two clinical trials

involving heart bypass-surgery patients show that Bextra was linked to

a greater risk of heart-related side-effects. The studies showed the

risk existed among patients who took Bextra alone or in conjunction

with an experimental COX-2 drug. Pfizer has since said that the

increased risk was not statistically significant for heart bypass

patients receiving only Bextra.

 

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