Diclofenac shouldn’t be prescribed to people with heart problems, drug agency says

Diclofenac should not be prescribed to patients with serious underlying heart conditions because of a small increased risk of heart attack and stroke, the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has warned.1

The advice comes after a recent meta-analysis found that the arterial thrombotic risk with diclofenac was similar to that with the selective cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors.2 The study found that, in comparison with placebo, the risk of major vascular events was increased by about a third by a COX-2 inhibitor (rate ratio 1.4 (95% confidence interval …