California HMO Stops Dispensing Bextra

Concerns About Heart Attack Risks Prompt Kaiser Permanente to Abandon Bextra

Kaiser Permanente, a California based HMO, hospital, and health clinic network, has stopped prescribing Bextra for at least six months, or until the FDA and/or manufacturer Pfizer can prove Bextra is safe. Kaiser is the nation's largest not-for-profit healthcare provider, serving 8.5 million people in nine states.

Kaiser's moratorium policy represents the first time the health system's doctors stopped dispensing a drug that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. "This is not a drug that saves lives," said Dr. Sharon Levine, who oversees medication usage for Kaiser, "It's a drug that provides a modest degree of pain relief -- no better than Motrin -- and the size of the risk, given the benefit provided, did not seem warranted."

Bextra is most often prescribed for arthritis patients. Kaiser's doctors who reviewed Bextra's safety profile cited studies which reflect "compelling" evidence that the drug increases heart risk. Bextra is in the same class of drugs as Vioxx, the COX-2 drug withdrawn by Merck after studies showed Vioxx use resulted in an increased risk of heart attack.

A recent New England Journal of Medicine article advising doctors against prescribing Bextra, coupled with Kaiser's moratorium on Bextra, could prompt other large health systems to abandon Bextra as well. A November 2004 study revealed Bextra's heart risks surpass those of Vioxx.

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