Pfizer seeks FDA approval to prescribe Celebrex to toddlers as young as 2: NewsTarget.com

Drug giant Pfizer Inc. is set to meet this Wednesday with a panel of advisors from the Food and Drug Administration to review the company's request to expand the use of its painkiller Celebrex -- which has been linked to serious heart risks -- in children as young as 2.

Celebrex -- the first FDA-approved Cox-2 inhibitor on the market -- was shown in recent tests to double or even triple the risk of heart attack, stroke and death. The anti-inflammatory drug is the last Cox-2 inhibitor left on the market after Merck & Co. pulled Vioxx in late 2004, following news that it doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients.

A 2004 study funded by the National Cancer Institute to test the effects of Celebrex in preventing colon cancer was halted early after patients experienced high rates of heart attack, heart death and stroke.

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Pfizer seeks FDA approval to prescribe Celebrex to toddlers as young as 2

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