Pfizer Australia is fined for misleading promotion of celecoxib

Pfizer Australia has been fined for breaching the drug industry's own marketing code of conduct over a letter it sent to health professionals defending the safety of celecoxib (Celebrex) after the recall of rofecoxib (Vioxx) last year.

In a letter that Pfizer sent out in October the company said that “the cardiovascular safety profile of Celebrex has been extensively studied” and that “the data do not indicate significant cardiovascular safety concerns with Celebrex.” Pfizer wrote of the study on the long term safety of celecoxib in arthritis that “there was no increase in serious cardiovascular thromboembolic events in patients on Celebrex who were or …