A Floral Park man is suing Pfizer, claiming the pharmaceutical manufacturer's anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex caused him to suffer an irregular heartbeat. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Nassau Supreme Court by Robert Roesler, 61, a disabled carpenter, comes in the wake of health warnings that the arthritis drug Vioxx causes heart problems.

Drug maker Merck & Co. pulled Vioxx from the market last month after finding it increased the risk of heart attack and stroke. Lawsuits quickly followed. But attorney Robert Sullivan, who represents Roesler, said his client's suit is the first of its kind to be filed in New York State against Celebrex.

Both drugs are in the same class of medications, called Cox-2 drugs, that are used to treat joint pain.

In a report released Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists suggest Celebrex - and other medications in its class - may be linked to heart risks because they behave the same as Vioxx.

Commonly prescribed drugs for arthritis, depression and epilepsy have been linked to a range of potentially serious side effects including heart attacks, convulsions and birth defects.

The October bulletin of the federal government's Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC) contains warnings about the arthritis drugs Celebrex and Vioxx, the anti-depressant mirtazapine (marketed as Remeron, Avanza and Mirtazon) and anti-epilepsy drugs including Epilim and Valpro.

ADRAC warns of a possible increased risk of heart disease and cerebrovascular complications linked to Celebrex and Vioxx.

Painkillers Blamed For Infertility

Women who want to become pregnant have been warned not to take the popular pain drugs Celebrex and Vioxx because of emerging evidence that they can cause temporary infertility.

The drugs, known as COX-2 inhibitors, might also prevent implantation of embryos or trigger early miscarriage, said Professor Norman, head of reproductive medicine at the University of Adelaide.

"Normal women of childbearing age attempting to have a baby should avoid taking these drugs or reduce their dose while seeking pregnancy," he wrote in the journal Fertility and Sterility, published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Special warnings about this medication:

Concomitant use of celecoxib with aspirin or other NSAIDs (e.g., ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.) may increase the occurrence of stomach and intestinal ulcers.

Fluconazole (Diflucan) increases the concentration of celecoxib in the body by inhibiting the breakdown of celecoxib in the liver. Therefore, treatment with celecoxib should be initiated at the lowest recommended doses in patients who are taking fluconazole.

Celecoxib increases the concentration of lithium (Eskalith) in the blood by 17%. Therefore, lithium therapy should be closely monitored during and after therapy with celecoxib.

Persons taking the anticoagulant (blood thinner) warfarin (COUMADIN) should have their blood tested when initiating or changing celecoxib treatment, particularly in the first few days, for any changes in the effects of the anticoagulant.

Persons who drink more than 3 alcoholic beverages per day may be at increased risk of developing stomach ulcers when taking NSAIDs, and this also may be true with celecoxib.

What are the possible side effects:

Although stomach and intestinal ulcers occur with the use of celecoxib, their incidence is less than with other NSAIDs in short-term studies.

Celecoxib does not interfere with the function of the blood platelets and, as a result, does not reduce clotting and lead to increased bleeding like other NSAIDs.

The most common adverse effects are headache, abdominal pain, dyspepsia, diarrhea, nausea, flatulence and insomnia. Other side effects include fainting, kidney failure, heart failure, aggravation of hypertension, chest pain, ringing in the ears, deafness, stomach and intestinal ulcers, bleeding, blurred vision, anxiety, photosensitivity, weight gain, water retention, flu-like symptoms, drowsiness and weakness.

Allergic type reactions can occur with celecoxib. Individuals who have developed allergic reactions (rash, itching, difficulty breathing) from sulfonamides (e.g., Bactrim), aspirin or other NSAIDs may experience an allergic reaction to celecoxib and should not take celecoxib.