Merck's voluntary withdrawal of arthritis drug Vioxx from the market last Thursday has raised questions. Reuters.com reported that some analysts and cardiologists are criticizing the FDA for not acting faster as the evidence mounted over 5 years, pointing to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes with Vioxx. Others are defending the FDA, claiming it is hard to associate conditions which are so widespread with a particular drug. The debate will rage on. Most importantly, patients are wondering if the problem is specific to Vioxx or associated with the other COX-2 inhibitors. Pfizer, the maker of Celebrex and Bextra, issued two press releases declaring the safety of Celebrex and highlighting three ongoing, long-term Celebrex studies involving more than 6,000 patients which have not shown any significant safety issues.