From the NY Times:

A new television advertisement for Pfizer’s painkiller Celebrex that has attracted attention for both its length and innovative marketing approach is now also the target of criticism for its message.

Public Citizen, a consumer group, asked the Food and Drug Administration this morning to ban the Celebrex television commercial, alleging that it gives consumers a false impression that the prescription drug has no more safety risk than some other painkillers.

…Dr. Cawkwell said the allegations by Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, were wrong in several respects.

She said that his letter suggested, for example, that the ad compared Celebrex to over-the-counter medications, but that it never did.

From the text directly under the ad on the Celebrex website:

Lately, there has been some confusion about arthritis pain treatments. It is important to know that there are risks with all pain medicines, including the 3 most common NSAIDs: CELEBREX, naproxen, and ibuprofen. In fact,the FDA requires all these NSAID pain relievers, including CELEBREX, to have the same cardiovascular warning.

In fact, on a recently released list of Heart Risks*, ranked in order of risk factor, Celebrex placed at #427 out of 500. At the top of the list were such known heart hazards as “being riddled with bullets” and “being pulled out of your chest cavity by a pagan priest as part of an unholy ritual.” At the bottom of the list were much less severe risks like “strolling a little faster than usual,” and being surprised by bouquet of flowers from a loved one.” Celebrex is in good company!

What’s more, a recent clinical study** revealed that ibuprofen, when not carefully administered, can actually do much more harm than good. In trial after trial, ibuprofen, whether injected in pill form, inhaled in capsule form, fired from a handgun, or dropped directly on the patient in a half-ton dosage, proved to cause pain, discomfort, dizziness, heart palpitations, blood loss, and death. As compared to correctly administered Celebrex, whose risks were described as “infinitely less… under these circumstances.”

Naproxen faired no better in the laboratory, causing little improvement and even direct harm in 5 out of 6 cases in one study.***

The truth is that all NSAID pain relievers have some risks associated with them, even your favorite over-the-counter painkillers. That’s why the makers of Celebrex urge you to talk to your doctor to determine is Celebrex is right for you, and what chances you are taking by choosing one of those other pain relievers. And if you end up taking Celebrex, you’ll see why “Celebrex has been putting patients out of their misery since 1999!”

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*”The Heart Risk 500,” from The Pfizer Review, 2007

** “The Effects of Misadministered and/or Weaponized Ibuprofen from a Clinical Standpoint,” Pfizer Labs, 2/06

*** “The Clinical Effects of Bashing Six Patients with a Naproxen Mallet, and the One Who Ducked,” The Pfizer Review, 2007