Just hours after it became apparent that FDA scientists were concerned that the agency was not doing enough to ensure the safety of the country's drugs, another major pharmaceutical company has been forced to announce a major defect in one of its high-selling drugs. This story, hot off the AP wire:

Pfizer Inc. said Friday it has found an increased risk of heart problems with patients taking its painkiller Celebrex, a drug that is in the same class as the Vioxx, which was pulled from the market in September because of safety concerns.

[...]

Both Celebrex and Vioxx, which is made by Merck & Co., are a type of drug called cox-2 inhibitors, which have become popular because of their effectiveness in treating the pain of arthritis and other ailments.

Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration said it was adding a warning to the labels of another Pfizer drug, Bextra, warning of potential heart problems associated with the use of Bextra in people who have recently had heart bypass surgery. Bextra is also a cox-2 inhibitor type of drug.

Perhaps its time the agency actually began doing its job rather than kowtowing to the big pharmaceutical industry...