Pity the Drug Reps: Last week, two drug reps from Pfizer were eager to sell me on the safety of the company's two Cox-2 inhibitors - Bextra and Celebrex. Pfizer wasn't like Merck, (the maker of Vioxx), they told me. Pfizer is scrupulous about testing its drugs and owning up to their risks. Pfizer hasn't found any problems with Bextra or Celebrex in all of the studies they've done. Unlike Merck, Pfizer keeps their drug reps up to date with the all of the latest research findings. You can safely recommend Bextra and Celebrex. Bextra and Celebrex won't be taken off the market. You won't be taken by surprise by any Pfizer drug, no sirree. Ahem:

Pfizer warned doctors yesterday that one of its best-selling painkillers, Bextra, might increase the risk of heart attack or stroke in coronary artery bypass surgery patients. The announcement comes just two weeks after Merck removed from the market its painkiller, Vioxx, which is in the same class of medicines as Bextra, because a study showed that the risk of heart attacks doubled for patients who had taken Vioxx 18 months or longer.

Pfizer said a clinical study involving more than 1,500 patients showed that those who had undergone bypass surgery and had taken Bextra intravenously and orally were at higher risk for heart attacks. An initial study last year raised similar concerns in the same kinds of patients.

Poor drug reps. I know they're just doing their jobs, but it really is hard to take anything they say seriously.