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By Vivian Richardson, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- One of the most commonly used pain killers in the world should be taken off the market, according to a researcher at Wake Forest University.
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Studies have shown diclofenac, sold as Voltaren, increases the risk of heart attack as much as banned medications Bextra and Vioxx, Curt Furberg, M.D., Ph.D., told Ivanhoe. The researcher from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., also serves on the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee.
Dr. Furberg said he does not agree with the FDA's decision to put black box warning labels on prescription and over the counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). There are major differences between the different medications in this class, he explained.
NSAIDs include naproxen (Aleve), ibuprofen (Advil), diclofenac (Voltaren) and celecoxib (Celebrex), which is a COX-2 inhibitor, meaning it selectively blocks a certain hormone. Other NSAIDs do not affect this hormone. Vioxx and Bextra, both banned after studies showed these COX-2 inhibitors had a harmful effect on hearts, are also NSAIDs.
By placing a warning on all NSAIDs, Dr. Furberg said the FDA may be causing some patients unnecessary stress. "They basically created a scare because now people who are using painkillers start to worry, 'Am I going to have a heart attack?'"
Dr. Furberg said Aleve is a relatively safe pain reliever. On the other hand, Voltaren is estimated to increase the risk of vascular side effects 70 percent more than Aleve. According to Dr. Furberg, Advil is somewhere in the middle. "For all the others, we don't have good information. We haven't proven they're harmful, but we haven't ruled out that they're harmful," Dr. Furberg said.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Interview with Curt Furberg, M.D., Ph.D.; Trials, 2007;8:13
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