With two Cleveland Clinic colleagues, Topol co-wrote a 2001 analysis of data on Merck's Vioxx that first suggested a link between this class of painkillers, called cox-2 inhibitors, and heart problems.

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Their performances at this hearing, regarding the safety of a class of painkillers called Cox-2 inhibitors, do not bode well should they have to face lawsuits in real courts.

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This was seen after an advisory panel's February 2005 blessing of painkillers Celebrex, Bextra and Vioxx, a class of drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors.

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Given that Jackson said in the past that he had been addicted to painkillers -- in 1993 in a video statement he said this happened after his scalp was burned in a Pepsi commercial taping -- his liver was likely not as healthy as a normal 50-year-old's liver, Parker said.

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He was plagued by injuries throughout his 15 years at the top and this led to an over-exposure to anti-inflammatories, antibiotics and painkillers.

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Others, like Nissen, argue that this kind of basic science approach won't settle the important question of the risk painkillers pose to the Hodgkin.

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This condition, often misleadingly called heel spurs, usually gets better on its own, with rest, painkillers or specially fitted heel cushions.

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