Old, ’safe’ painkillers found to cause same heart ills as new

Some older, “safe” painkillers appear to cause the same heart problems as the much-scrutinized and discredited painkiller Vioxx, according to new research, which raises new concerns about the safety of treatments for chronic painful conditions such as arthritis.

At the same time, Vioxx itself appears to have even more side effects than previously believed, according to research published on-line yesterday by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

theglobeandmail.com