Two years ago there were problems found with arthritis medications that contained Cox-2 inhibitors and both Vioxx and Celebrex were pulled off of the market. If you remember the problem was that users of these products had a higher inciednce of cariac problems compared to a control group that took a placebo. Now Merck, one of the largest drug manufacturers worldwide is trying to create a new drug called Arcoxia that also uses Cox-2 inhibitors as a painkiller to tackle arthritis pain.
Merck wants FDA approval to sell Arcoxia, also known as etoricoxib, to treat the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis. The Whitehouse Station, N.J. company said its drug should be an option for the estimated 21 million Americans who suffer from osteoarthritis.
The FDA is at this point against this new drug although Merck says that the results are the same as an older Arthritis drug called Diclofenac which although older is apparently safe.
The reason that I bring this all up today is because it seems that after the initial hype and banning of Cox-2 based pain control there have not been many studies and it would be nice to see more info on the good or the bad of these Cox-2 based drugs