Pfizer's Celebrex shown to be as safe as ibuprofen or naproxen: study

By Bill Berkrot NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc's Celebrex arthritis drug was shown to be at least as safe as the widely used prescription-strength versions of painkillers ibuprofen and naproxen, and does not appear to cause heart problems that spurred the withdrawal of rival Vioxx, according to a large 10-year study presented on Sunday. Some 100 million prescriptions were written in the United States in 2013 alone for the type of painkiller known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDS, to which all three drugs belong. Celebrex, or celecoxib, belongs to a class of NSAID called Cox-2 inhibitors that were designed to prevent gastrointestinal bleeding common with many NSAIDs.