The New York Times, "Lawyers Set To Bring More Suits"

          The government's decision to force Pfizer to withdraw the pain drug Bextra and add warnings to the label of a similar drug, Celebrex, has galvanized the informal network of lawyers pursuing death and injury suits aimed at the two drugs and their chemical relative, Vioxx.
          Yesterday, at least one new Bextra suit was filed against Pfizer in Houston, adding to a smattering of others from around the country in the last year. And a Louisiana lawyer, anticipating a flood of new suits, filed a motion calling for consolidation of federal Bextra and Celebrex cases.
          The two Pfizer drugs and Vioxx belong to a class of drugs known as cox-2 inhibitors. So far, most of the cox-2 suits have focused on another drug in the class, Vioxx, whose maker, Merck, pulled it from the market last September, citing new evidence of cardiovascular risks. Hundreds of Vioxx cases have already been consolidated under a federal judge in New Orleans, and the first state cases are scheduled to go to trial in May in Texas and Alabama.
          But the withdrawal of Bextra could now help turn a relatively small number of lawsuits against Pfizer into a torrent -- even though it was the drug's potential to cause a rare skin condition, rather than its cardiovascular risks, that prompted regulators to force it off the market.
          Law firms handling complaints involving cox-2 drugs said yesterday that they were busy fielding calls from potential clients and other lawyers as word spread of the Food and Drug Administration's decision.