A new study shows that patients taking Celebrex are nearly twice as likely to experience a heart attack as people using other drugs to treat arthritis pain.

Researchers at the New Zealand Medical Research Institute analyzed six studies involving 12,780 patients. They found that patients taking Celebrex had a 1.88-fold increase risk of a heart attack compared to those taking other painkillers.

HealthDay News reports that Celebrex is classified as a cox-2 inhibitor. Other drugs in this class include Bextra and Vioxx, which have been taken off the market because of safety issues. Vioxx was found to double the risk of heart attack after 18 months of use.

Professor Richard Beasley, director of the New Zealand Medical Research Institute, says the latest study suggests that the risks associated with Celebrex are similar to those of Vioxx.

Beasley says, "Given the popularity of celecoxib (Celebrex) in the treatment of arthritis ... drug regulatory agencies need to urgently re-examine the assessment of the drug in light of these findings."

The study is published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.