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New Zealand has banned the supply of an osteoarthritis drug which can cause death and severe liver damage.
The Ministry of Health's medicine watchdog Medsafe has followed Australia's lead and withdrawn the supply of 200mg and 400mg Prexige tablets.
The anti-inflammatory drug has been blamed for the deaths of two people and two others requiring liver transplants in Australia.
Medsafe spokesman Stewart Jessamine said today its medicines adverse reactions committee (MARC) discussed the overall risks and benefits of the use of Prexige with medicines regulators in Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
"This increased risk of liver damage for Prexige outweighs any of the potential benefits claimed for the 200mg and 400mg dose," Dr Jessamine said.
The 100mg Prexige tablets would stay on the market, though would be closely monitored.
Earlier this month, up to 60,000 Australians were warned to stop using the drug immediately.
New Zealand authorities at the time said the risk on this side of the Tasman was not the same.
Dr Jessamine said only "a few thousand" New Zealanders were taking the drug, with only about 1000 taking the 400mg tablet.
Between 500 and 600 people had bought the 100mg tablets in the past three months, he said.
Prexige, made by pharmaceutical company Novartis, was not subsidised by the Government.
The drug was a Cox 2 inhibitor - a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Vioxx, also a Cox 2 inhibitor, was voluntarily recalled worldwide by its manufacturer Merck in 2004 due to adverse health conditions in patients.
Regulators around the world have been watching this class of drugs closely since the Vioxx scare.
- NZPA
