COX-2 Inhibitors — Lessons in Drug Safety

Bruce M. Psaty, M.D., Ph.D., and Curt D. Furberg, M.D., Ph.D.
After millions of Americans have used COX-2inhibitors, which were intended to avert the gastrointestinal complications common to other nonsteroidal
antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), serious adverse cardiovascular events have now been reported for three members of the class. Physicians are dismayed, pharmaceutical companies are embarrassed and financially threatened, and patients are injured. Indeed, the integrity of the American drug-safety system has been questioned. How did such problems arise, and how can they be prevented in the future?