Celebrex Lawsuits
Celebrex lawsuits were a bit delayed after
the Vioxx lawsuits and Bextra
lawsuits hit the ground running. The first Celebrex lawsuit
to be filed was on February 27, 2006 by a 53-year-old Alabama
woman who suffered a stroke in 2005 after taking the prescription
drug.
If you or a loved one has been injured
by taking Celebrex, contact a
product liability lawyer who specializes in pharmaceuticals
to discuss your case.
Celebrex or Celecoxib is the only COX-2 selective NSAID inhibitor
that remains on the market. The other two Cox-2 drugs are Vioxx
(Merck) and Bextra (Pfizer), which have both been pulled either
voluntarily or due to mandate from the Food & Drug Administration
(FDA). Like Bextra, Celebrex is also manufactured by Pfizer but
with 4.5 times more sales coming in at around $3.3 billion per
year as of 2004. Because of bad publicity, the annual sales for
2005 dropped to $1.7 billion. Approximately 27 million people
have been prescribed Celebrex in the U. S. for arthritis and other
types of pain management.
Celebrex can have severe or deadly side effects and has been
linked to heart attack, stroke, kidney problems, gastrointestinal
hemorrhage, drug interactions causing severe injuries or death.
Since August 3, 2005, Celebrex has carried a black box label,
the FDA's strongest warning, announcing the possible hazardous
side effects from taking the drug. The Celebrex website warns
of the potential hazards at the bottom of the homepage and also
suggests not taking Celebrex along with aspirin as the side effects
may be increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers.
On December 14, 2004 the U.S. National Cancer Institute released
the results from its study stating that those taking Celebrex
were 2.5 times more likely to experience severe side effects such
as heart attack or stroke. The shares of Pfizer temporarily plummeted
24-percent after the announcement.
Besides the Celebrex lawsuit from the Alabama woman, other Celebrex
lawsuits have followed as well. A class action Celebrex lawsuit
was filed by the Prescription Access Litigation Project in February
2005 in California claiming misleading advertising and a failure
to warn about the possible adverse side effects from taking the
drug. Purchase claims and product liability personal injury claims
have been transferred to the Northern District of California.
In September 2006, there were 1,500 Celebrex lawsuits pending
in San Francisco, which will be litigated starting in early 2007.
Celebrex lawyers are developing their cases around the drug's
distribution chain including Pfizer Inc, Monsanto Company, Pharmacia
Corporation and GD Searle & Company. Many eyes will be watching
as the 2007 Celebrex lawsuits begin trial and unfold and whether
the FDA will finally decide to pull the drug or let it ride as
has been their inclination so far.
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