WELLINGTON - The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved a new arthritis drug already in demand by New Zealand doctors.
Monsanto's Celebrex has been tested on more than 13,000 volunteers.
The results showed it to be as effective as the prescription-strength nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxen in treating arthritis pain andinflammation, but with significantly fewer gastrointestinal ulcers than both naproxen and another widely used medication, ibuprofen.
The most common gastrointestinal side-effects of Celebrex were dyspepsia, diarrhoea and abdominal pain, but discontinuation because of those side-effects was less than 1 per cent. - NZPA
