That Vioxx� (rofecoxib), a cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX 2) inhibitor, causes increased heart attack and stroke among users was known 4 years prior to its removal from the corporate drug market. This fact is substantiated by the study known as VIGOR (VIOXX Gastrointestinal Outcomes Research), performed in 2000 by MERCK. VIGOR showed that the COX-2 inhibitor promotes the clotting of blood and high blood pressure due to sodium retention in the kidney in some users. The "deadly duo" elicited an estimated 100,000 preventable injuries in Vioxx� users. The grotesque imitation of what should be the scientific community is not stopping what appears to be the next "FDA cover up."

A member of the FDA's drug safety advisory committee and a well-known authority on drug safety, Dr. Curt Furberg, recently came forward to announce that Bextra � (valdecoxib), a chemical cousin of Vioxx�, also causes heart attack and stroke. Published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Dr. Furberg insists that his studies "Showed that Bextra is no different than Vioxx, and Pfizer is trying to suppress that information." Immediately thereafter, Dr. Furberg was barred from serving on the panel that is responsible for considering the safety of cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX 2) inhibitors.[1]

Dr. Furberg is not alone in his convictions. Garret Fitzgerald, MD, PharmD, of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, discussed his findings relative to Bextra � at the American Heart Association Scientific Session 2004 on November 10th. His studies showed that the risk for heart attack and stroke was more than twice as high among those patients taking Bextra� compared to the placebo group.[2] These were identical to the findings of Vioxx� in the year 2000.

As chemical cousins, Vioxx� and Bextra� share the same biochemical qualities. Both drugs are considered COX 2 inhibitors. Both drugs thicken the blood. Just like concrete thickens upon addition of water, so does the blood upon addition of Bextra�. Technically speaking, both COX 2 inhibitors increase the production of thromboxane.[3] This chemical promotes blood clotting, which in turn increases the chances of suffering from heart attack and stroke.

Pfizer and the FDA aren't letting this out, even if it means barring leading scientists from advisory boards. This approach works because pharmaceutically-complaint politicians have democratized the drug industry. Drug safety is a simple matter of 51% telling the other 49% that deadly drugs like Bextra� are safe and necessary.

Science and choice no longer prevail in medicine. Instead, health tyranny, motivated by profit and asserted by insurance companies, dominates. Rent-a-quote medical doctors simply follow orders by mandating prescription drug addiction. This is so apparent that it would take a highly educated person to miss it. Health is only guaranteed to those who resist the greed-driven current that draws them to deadly, FDA approved drugs.

Footnotes:

1. Lenzer, Jeanne. FDA bars own expert from evaluating risks of painkillers. British Medical Journal 2004;329:1203 (20 November)
2. Laino, Charlene. AHA: Valdecoxib Linked to Cardiovascular Complications. [Link]
3. Ouellet, Marc, Riendeau, Denis, and Percival, M. David. A high level of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor selectivity is associated with a reduced interference of platelet cyclooxygenase-1 inactivation by aspirin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 98 (2001): 14583-88.