The makers of the anti-inflammatory medications Vioxx and Celebrex received more troubling news this week as a newly released study warned the drugs may delay bone healing. According to the report published in this month's issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, inhibiting cox-2, an enzyme that causes pain and inflammation, may also impede bone repair. Cox-2 reportedly assists bone-forming stem cells in the healing process.

As part of the study, researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey gave over 250 rats with broken legs Vioxx and Celebrex. The rats' injuries had not healed two months later. Doctors say more research is needed to verify the study's results. The medical director for the Arthritis Foundation, though, insists that patients discuss with their physicians about discontinuing use of anti-inflammatory medications until after a broken bone has healed. Merck and Company, the manufacturer of Vioxx, and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Celebrex, deny the allegations.