NEW YORK, Nov 4 (AFP) - Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Thursday reaffirmed its view that its arthritis drug Celebrex is safe, labeling "misleading" a Canadian news report suggesting a link to cardiovascular problems.
The company responded after the National Post, citing documents from Health Canada, reported that Celebrex had been suspected of causing 14 deaths and other serious side effects.
Celebrex has been in focus since last month's withdrawal by Merck of its Vioxx, a similar product, due to concerns it could cause heart attack or stroke.
Pfizer has insisted that Celebrex has not had similar problems, and that the Canadian report provided nothing to prove otherwise.
"The news report, based on voluntary spontaneous event reporting to Canadian health authorities, is misleading," Pfizer said in a statement.
"The story is not supported by any clinical or epidemiological studies and has the potential to cause undue confusion among patients and physicians. The safety profile for Celebrex is well established and is supported by extensive clinical studies in Canada and around the world."
Pfizer said Health Canada had acknowledged the limitations of the anecdotal reports and had noted, "There hasn't been a causal link established."
A Health Canada spokesman declined to comment, but said a news conference was planned later in the day.
11/04/2004 19:34 GMT - AFP