Judge rules that Pfizer Celebrex not proven to cause heart attacks

New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley W. Kornreich ruled that the plaintiffs suing Pfizer in New York failed to present reliable scientific evidence necessary to prove that Celebrex can cause heart attacks and strokes at 200 mg daily – the most commonly prescribed dosage of the pain medication. 

In November 2007, the U.S. District Court of Northern California in the Celebrex multi-district federal litigation, Judge Charles R. Breyer of San Francisco ruled that “no randomized controlled trials or meta-analyses of such trials or meta-analyses of observational studies have found an association between Celebrex 200 mg/day and a risk of heart attack or stroke.” 

Most of the Celebrex lawsuits were filed after the FDA held advisory committee hearings in 2005 on the cardiovascular risk of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including Celebrex. The FDA concluded that based on the available data, Celebrex's benefits outweigh its risks for appropriate patients at approved doses.

Celebrex has remained continuously on the market since it first became available to patients in 1999.

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