This is not a good year for cox-2 inhibitors.
"Pfizer Inc. says it has found an increased risk of heart attacks with patients taking its top-selling painkiller Celebrex, a drug that is in the same class as Vioxx, which was pulled from the market in September because of safety concerns."
Pfizer is not planning to recall their product, though. At least not yet.
Story here
What bugs me most about this issue is not just that, at least in the case of Vioxx, the manufacturer knew and attempted to cover up the problems associated with taking their product. Or the tainted approval process at the FDA. It's the marketing hype that results in a drug with marginal applications (Vioxx was rarely more effective than Ibuprofen...) being recklessly prescribed for millions of people who don't need it.
Nevermind. All three situations are equally deplorable.