Raising Panic in Vioxx and Celebrex Cases
The front-page article about Celebrex and heart risk (Dec. 18) does not qualify as responsible journalism.
The only patients for whom the drugs Vioxx and Celebrex (Cox-2 inhibitors) have been found to increase the risk of heart disease are those who have had heart bypass surgery or those with high risk of developing heart disease (those with angina and diabetes). Blanketing the Cox-2 inhibitors to be detrimental is tantamount to misinformation to the public and increasing the panic level.
The average patient who has no heart problem or diabetes and takes Celebrex only because he cannot take ibuprofen because it upsets his stomach is at no greater risk than the one who is taking Tylenol. These patients form a majority of patients taking Celebrex and Vioxx, and there is no justification in raising their panic level.
The prudent thing would be to avoid using Cox-2 inhibitors in high-risk patients and not deprive the population of drugs that originally were introduced to help patients who had stomach and duodenal ulcers cope with their arthritis.
Arinder Chadha MD
Bloomington
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