Patent ID: 8188107

Claim:
A method of effectively treating pain in humans comprising orally administering to a human patient a dose of an opioid analgesic together with an amount of a COX-2 inhibitor which is lower than the amount of the COX-2 inhibitor that would normally be required to produce analgesia when the COX-2 inhibitor is used alone, wherein the COX-2 inhibitor and the opioid analgesic are combined with a sustained-release carrier in a single dosage form selected from the group consisting of a tablet or a capsule, the COX-2 inhibitor is N[3-(formylamino)-4-oxo-6-phenoxy-4H-1-benzopyran-7-yl] methanesulfonamide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, the opioid analgesic is oxycodone or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and said pain is cancer pain, post-surgical pain, low back and neck pain, dysmenorrheal, headache, toothache, pain from sprains and strains, myositis, neuralgia, synovitis, arthritis, degenerative joint diseases, gout, ankylosing spondylitis, bursitis, burns, injuries, influenza or other viral infections, or common cold.