The Cleveland Clinic will direct a large-scale clinical trial to determine the cardiovascular safety of three painkillers commonly used by arthritis sufferers.The trial will focus on three drugs -- ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin), naproxen (Naprosyn or Alleve) and celecoxib (Celebrex) -- all of which belong to the class of medications known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Celebrex is a cox-2 inhibitor, a member of a newer class of NSAIDs that avoided the gastrointestinal problems of the older drugs. Two other cox-2 painkillers, Vioxx and Bextra, have been pulled off the market because of documented heart risks.The Cleveland Clinic trial, which will enroll 20,000 at-risk heart patients, is an attempt to figure out whether the NSAIDS that remain on store shelves pose any cardiovascular risks.
