And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ordered strict warnings to be put on packages of painkillers known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDS, including naproxen, a popular NSAID sold over-the-counter by Bayer under the brand name Aleve.

The warning labels were ordered because of some studies that suggested NSAIDS might also raise heart risks.

"Particularly for safety data, 'truth' may come in small doses. We firmly believe that results from trials should be published regardless of the direction, magnitude, or statistical significance of the observed results," said Barbara Martin of the John Hopkins University School of Public Health, who worked on the study.

Writing in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Clinical Trials, Martin and colleagues said they looked at data from a trial designed to see if Celebrex might help prevent Alzheimer's disease in high-risk patients.

The 2,500 elderly volunteers were given either COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex, naproxen or a placebo for up to 3-1/2 years.

It was stopped when concerns rose over the safety of COX-2 inhibitors.

The trial showed no increased or decreased heart risk for Celebrex, known generically as celecoxib, compared to placebo. But it did show an increased risk for naproxen.

Over three years, 5.5 percent of the patients getting Celebrex had a stroke, heart attack or were diagnosed with congestive heart failure, while 5.6 percent of those getting a placebo did. In comparison, 8.25 percent of the naproxen patients had such a serious cardiovascular incident or death.

Dr. Steve Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio said the trial's findings were "completely unreliable."

"The stopping of the study early was improper and it led to erroneous conclusions," Nissen said in a telephone interview. "We know from very large epidemiological (population) studies and all sorts of studies that naproxen is a safe drug, perhaps the best of the NSAIDS," added Nissen, an outspoken expert on the safety of NSAIDS and COX-2 inhibitors.

Just last week, a much smaller study led by Dr. Michael Schiff of the Denver Arthritis Clinic suggested that naproxen did not raise the risk of heart attack and stroke.

"We don't have the full answers," Nissen said.

He has a safety trial with 21,000 patients underway to compare naproxen with Celebrex and placebo.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Water warning leaves Vancouver high and dry

Last Updated: 2006-11-17 16:18:11 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Allan Dowd

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - More than two million residents on Canada's Pacific coast puzzled on Friday over a warning they might normally associate with the Third World: don't drink the water.

Health officials issued a boil-water advisory for the Vancouver-area after a storm stirred up silt in the region's reservoirs and increased the risk of bacteria-borne disease.

No illnesses have been reported -- and officials said no bacteria had actually been found -- but residents were told not to use water for drinking, brushing teeth or washing fruit and vegetables unless it had been boiled first.

The advisory issued on Thursday quickly emptied store shelves of bottled water and forced restaurants and coffee shops in Canada's third largest city to turn away customers.

"Don't bother, they don't have any coffee," said Sara, a panhandler outside a downtown Tim Hortons Inc. restaurant, as she directed confused commuters to the few places where they could get their morning caffeine fix.

"This is all really stupid," she added.

Across the street in a normally busy Starbucks, the staff stood around with nothing to do.

The boil-water advisory was issued after heavy rains on Wednesday caused mudslides in the mountains that surround Vancouver, which serve as its source of water supply, dumping silt into reservoirs already churned up by winds gusting at more than 100 km/h (62 mph).

Turbidity levels in the reservoirs jumped to unprecedented levels, and health officials warned the silt could carry high levels of bacteria, and make the chorine used to treat the water less effective.

"It's the worst we've ever seen it," Johnny Carline, water commissioner for the Greater Vancouver Regional District told CBC television.

The district, which supplies about a billion litres (265 million U.S. gallons) of water per day, is building a new filtration system for its major reservoirs but the facility is not scheduled to be completed until 2007.

The initial boil-water advisory covered about 2.15 million people but officials were about to lift the warning for several communities east of Vancouver by midday on Friday.

It was hoped turbidity levels would return to acceptable levels for the entire area by the end of the weekend, although weather forecasters have warned that another storm was scheduled to hit the region on Sunday.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.