Pain relief drug linked to heart attacks, claims study

IBUPROFEN may raise the risk of heart attacks and other fatal and serious problems when elderly people take it daily for arthritis, US researchers claimed yesterday.

They said the popular over-the-counter pain reliever was the only drug in the class that includes aspirin and other analgesics to raise the risk of serious heart disease – along with the now-withdrawn Vioxx.

Dr Daniel Solomon of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who led the research, said: "Our findings suggest that rofecoxib and ibuprofen are the only agents consistently associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease events among specific subgroups.

"The fact that we did not observe a similar risk concentration among patients using many of the other agents may be of even greater relevance. These results should bolster physicians' and patients' confidence."