Manufacturer disputes ibuprofen risk to heart attacks

Users of the pain-relieving drug Nurofen should not be worried despite a new study linking its constituent drug ibuprofen to an increased risk of heart attacks, the New Zealand manufacturer says.

The study, just published in the British Medical Journal, suggested non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen, rofecoxib and diclofenac were all linked to more heart attacks.

The risk of a first-time heart attack for people taking ibuprofen was 24 per cent higher than for those who weren't taking the drug.

Researchers said in the over-65 group, for those taking ibuprofen one extra patient for every 1005 was at risk of suffering a first-time heart attack.

They advised patients using the popular drug not to stop taking it, but called for further investigation.

But Nurofen manufacturer Boots Healthcare New Zealand said today that evidence so far showed ibuprofen at non-prescription (low) doses, was not associated with an increased risk of heart attack.

Boots director of scientific affairs Zephanie Jordan said there was no need for people taking non-prescription ibuprofen products to be concerned about their safety in relation to increased risk of heart attack.

" Consumers can have full confidence in the use of ibuprofen when taken according to the directions on the pack."

New Zealand regulatory body Medsafe said it would review the ibuprofen study in September.

"In the interim, patients need not stop taking these medications," Medsafe specialist Stewart Jessamine told the New Zealand Herald.

In what was said to be the biggest study of its kind to date, the British researchers identified 9218 patients in England, Scotland and Wales who had suffered a heart attack for the first time during a four-year period.

They looked at whether these patients had been prescribed NSAIDs, including ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen, celecoxib (Celebrex) and rofecoxib (Vioxx).

- NZPA