OTC Pain Killers Increase Risk of Death in People with History of MI

Washington, DC: According to recent research, people who have suffered a myocardial infarct (MI) are at an increased risk for death or a second MI if they use non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Further, Voltaren or Cataflam (diclofenac) a commonly used NSAID, has a higher risk of death in this patient population, in the first week of use.

The results are from an observational study published in the journal Circulation earlier this year. The increased risk of death - which was 45 percent - associated with the initiation of NSAIDs, was higher than that reported with Vioxx (rofecoxib), which was taken off the market in 2004. The study authors, who included Anne-Marie Schjerning Olsen, MB, of Copenhagen University Hospital in Gentofte, Denmark, concluded that their data demonstrate there is no safe therapeutic window for NSAID treatment in patients with prior MI.

Additional data showing increased risk for cardiovascular events associated with NSAIDs come from an analysis of 30 randomized studies of seven NSAIDs, including Ibuprofen, Diclofenac, Celecoxib, Etoricoxib, Rofecoxib, and Lumiracoxib. This meta-analysis, by Peter Jüni, MD, and colleagues from the University of Bern in Switzerland, found that naproxen appeared to be the least potentially harmful, while Vioxx carried the most risk. In an accompanying editorial in the British Medical Journal, Wayne A. Ray, PhD, of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, noted that there is a need for further safety evaluations of drugs intended for symptomatic pain relief. And he pointed out that NSAIDs cannot be considered ideal with regard to either their effectiveness or their safety.

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Published on Oct-20-11