Public Citizen Asks FDA to Ban Celebrex Ad

Advocacy group Public Citizen has asked the FDA to ban what it calls a "dangerous, misleading" TV ad for Pfizer's arthritis pain medicine Celebrex. Pfizer rejected the criticism and accused the group of "misrepresenting" the content of the commercial.

The letter, written by Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, faults the advertisement, which started running April 2, for making "it appear, contrary to scientific evidence, that the cardiovascular dangers of Celebrex are not greater than those of any of the other NSAID [nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug] pain killers."

"All prescription NSAIDs carry the same boxed warnings," Gail Cawkwell, senior medical director for pain, inflammation and neuroscience at Pfizer, said. "We spent a long time trying to develop an ad that would be responsible, informative and would encourage patients to go to their doctor and talk about all options for treating their arthritis pain."

The Public Citizen letter also said the ad "asserts that certain gastrointestinal problems are, if anything, less frequent with Celebrex than with two popular over-the-counter pain killers."

However, according to Cawkwell, the ad comments on "two very different kinds" of gastrointestinal safety issues. She said the ad begins with a discussion of serious complications to the stomach and intestines that can result from Celebrex, which are "clearly stated upfront in the ad." The ad later states that incidence of certain other problems like upset stomach, nausea and stomach pain is less frequent with Celebrex than with other NSAIDs, "as stated on the label," Cawkwell said.

"I'm concerned that perhaps Dr. Wolfe is misrepresenting what is in the commercial," Cawkwell said, referring specifically to the gastrointestinal issues.