NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 22: After making public the ban on Merck’s arthritis drug Vioxx (Rofecoxib), the Central government today took decision on other coxib drugs belonging to same class of selective Cox-2 inhibitors. It has initiated a National Pharmacovigilance Programme to scrutinise these drugs and collect data on their side-effects.
In its first meeting held on October 11, the National Pharmacovigilance Advisory Committee had, apart from banning Vioxx, cautioned against the use of other drugs in the same class and said ‘‘their use in patients with coronary heart disease/cardiovascular disease be stopped by appropriate labeling changes’’. The related drugs are celecoxib, parecoxib, valdecoxib.
