December 17, 2005. The painkiller Bextra will not be allowed back on the Canadian market.

Health Canada is following the advice of an expert panel that concluded Bextra should not be sold in Canada.

Bextra is a member of a class of drugs known as cox-2 inhibitors.

Better known cox-2s are Celebrex, which is still sold, and Vioxx, which was pulled from worldwide markets in late September 2004.

Drug maker Pfizer Canada suspended sales of Bextra last April at the request of Health Canada.

It followed reports that in rare cases the drug could cause potentially fatal skin reactions.

There was also concern it could increase heart attack and stroke risk.