LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Stroke Vioxx: Heart Attacks
built 212 days ago
Merck pulled Vioxx from the market yesterday due to findings of internal studies which showed that patients who took Vioxx had increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Vioxx was a very profitable product for Merck with sales of nearly $2 billion a year in the last two years. In fact, Merck spent $160 million in the first year of the drug's release to promote Vioxx, more than was spent advertising Pepsi or Budweiser during the same period.
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September 30, 2004-Vioxx (rofecoxib) was voluntarily withdrawn worldwide today due to increased risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. Vioxx-a COX-2 selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-is a prescription medication used to treat arthritis, acute pain in adults, and painful menstrual cycles. The drug manufacturer, Merck & Co., Inc., decided to withdraw Vioxx after study results showed an increased risk of heart attack and stroke after 18 months of continuous use. Although the risk of heart attack and stroke is small, you can take other medications. If you take Vioxx, talk to your doctor about other options
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Merck & Co. has removed its blockbuster arthritis drug Vioxx from the market worldwide because new data from a clinical trial found an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Merck said it decided to removed the drug from the market after data from the trial showed the increased risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots and other cardiovascular complications . The data comes from a three-year study aimed at showing that Vioxx at a 25 milligram dose prevents recurrence of polyps in the colon and rectum. The trial was stopped after Merck discovered the higher heart risk compared to patients taking dummy pills. Before the withdrawal of Vioxx, the FDA announced that patients taking Vioxx have a 50 percent greater chance of heart attacks and sudden cardiac death. The study, presented at an epidemiologists conference... found patients taking the highest recommended daily dosage of Vioxx had three times the risk of heart attack and sudden cardiac death as those not taking standard painkillers. The popular and heavily advertised arthritis drugs Vioxx and Celebrex have been linked by researchers to an increase in the risk of blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.The study from the Cleveland Clinic appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association and was based on an analysis of previous clinical trials.
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Instead of looking seriously into the Vioxx stroke risks associated with their medication, Merck decided to spin the research results in a different direction. The pharmaceutical giant argued that naproxen was actually somehow preventing heart attack and stroke in patients. This, Merck posited, was the reason it seemed as if Vioxx stroke risks seemed significant. Somehow this excuse was accepted, despite the fact that naproxen has never been associated with stroke or heart attack prevention properties.
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Vioxx was withdrawn primarily because of new information about an increased risk of heart attack (myocardial infarction) and stroke (cerebrovascular accident). This type of safety risk was demonstrated as a result of recent analysis of the Adenomatous Polyp Prevention of VIOXX (APPROVe) clinical trial conducted by Merck.
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Vioxx, a prescription medicine produced by, Merck & Co., was voluntarily withdrawn on September 30, 2004 due to evidence linking it to significantly increased risk of cardiovascular problems including heart attack and stroke. Vioxx is classified as a COX-2 inhibitor, a type of drug thought to be safer for the gastrointestinal system than nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Unfortunately, the cardiovascular safety of this drug family has come under significant scrutiny.
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