Newspapers Examine Issues Related to Pfizer Decision To Suspend Sales of COX-2 Inhibitor Bextra

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Article Date: 13 Apr 2005 - 9:00 PDT

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Several newspapers recently published articles related to the decision last week by... Pfizer to suspend sales of the COX-2 inhibitor Bextra at the request of FDA over concerns about increased risk for a potentially fatal allergic skin reaction. The articles also examined an announcement last week by FDA requiring stronger warnings on other COX-2 inhibitors and over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and naproxen. Summaries of the articles appear below.

• Chicago Tribune, "Patients in Pain Keep Popping Pills Despite FDA Warning": The high demand for pain medications among patients who maintain that the benefits of COX-2 inhibitors outweigh the risks is a "key reason" behind efforts by Pfizer and Merck -- which withdrew the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx from the market last September -- to return Bextra and Vioxx to the market, the Tribune reports (Japsen, Chicago Tribune, 4/11).
  
  
• New York Times, "Warnings Aside, Some Still Want Their Painkillers": The Times on Saturday examined patients who have "expressed skepticism about the new warnings" on pain medications and maintain that they would "rather tolerate health risks than constant pain," as well as patients who have begun to take alternative treatments to COX-2 inhibitors (Goodnough, New York Times, 4/9).
  
  
• Philadelphia Inquirer, "New Warnings a Pain for Drug Firms": Pharmaceutical companies that manufacture NSAIDs might have to "reassess their marketing strategies" because of the stronger warnings FDA plans to require, the Inquirer reports (Ginsberg/Loyd, Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/9).
  
  
• Philadelphia Inquirer, "FDA Stance Confuses Patients": Some patients and physicians maintain that "they are confused, not comforted," by the "sudden regulatory conservatism" of FDA, and others question the effect that politics and public relations have on the agency, the Inquirer reports (McCullough, Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/10).
  
  
• Raleigh News & Observer, "Risks Reduce Painkiller Choices": The News & Observer on Saturday examined alternative treatments to COX-2 inhibitors and NSAIDs, such as aspirin, natural therapies and physical therapy, among others (Fisher/Vollmer, Raleigh News & Observer, 4/9).
  
  
• Washington Post, "Painkiller Decision Suggests Shift in FDA's Risk-Benefit Equation": The decision by FDA to request the suspension of Bextra sales "reflects a broader shift at the powerful agency," but "whether that is good or bad depends on an observer's viewpoint," according to the Post (Kaufman, Washington Post, 4/11).

Broadcast Coverage
NPR's "All Things Considered" on Friday reported on the suspension of sales of Bextra. The segment includes discussion with Dr. Joshua Prager, director of the University of California-Los Angeles Pain Medicine Center ("All Things Considered," NPR, 4/8). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer. Additional NPR coverage also is available online.

CBS' "Evening News" on Saturday reported on the suspension (Attkisson, "Evening News," CBS, 4/9). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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