Federal Advisers say Celebrex for kids: OKAY.

Allison Snoddy

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On November 29, 2006 Federal advisers recommended that Pfizer Inc. can market their painkiller Celebrex to children with rheumatoid arthritis. The Food and drug Administration now is faced with making a decision of whether they will expand the approval of Celebrex.

The advisers said that the benefit's outweighed the risks in a 15 to 1 vote. Celebrex is also a Cox 2 inhibitor drug along with Vioxx and Bextra, both of which have been removed from the market due to increased risk of heart attack and/or stroke. The long term safety for children is unknown therefore the panel advised Pfizer to conduct a long term study. They have stated that short term use has had no ill effects. Hopefully for children suffering from this disease this will help them and not hurt them, I guess we will have to wait and see.