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10/15/04 12:12 PM

#10940 RE: anon.10 #10939

Ouch, yes I still got shares of PFE. Read below.

Pfizer Says Bextra, Heart Problems Linked

Reuters Business News
11:53 a.m. 10/15/2004


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc. (PFE) on Friday said two small clinical trials showed heart bypass surgery patients taking Bextra, an anti-inflammatory in the same class as the recently withdrawn drug Vioxx, had a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.

Bextra is approved to treat pain from arthritis and, like Merck & Co.'s (MRK) Vioxx, is a COX-2 inhibitor. A recent trial showed Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke in arthritis patients who took the drug for more than 18 months.