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With Vioxx off the market, what alternatives do patients have?(recalls & safety alerts)(Brief Article)
Merck & Co.'s Sept. 30 decision to pull the pain reliever Vioxx off the market has millions of patients looking for new treatments--and the choice isn't simple. Vioxx (rofecoxib) is a selective COX-2 inhibitor, a class of drugs that may be less likely to cause ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding than older anti-inflammatory drugs.
The Merck study that prompted the drug's withdrawal involved some 2,600 people. The trial was halted prematurely because of a marked increase in heart attack and stroke among patients who took Vioxx for more than 18 months.
Previous studies by Merck and others had raised similar concerns about Vioxx's effects on the heart. The Food and Drug Administration had already required Merck to add a warning label in 2002 after a large clinical trial suggested that Vioxx might increase coronary risk. Studies of competing drugs--Celebrex and Bextra (valdecoxib), both from Pfizer--have not shown increased cardiovascular risk.
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- Merck Announces Voluntary Worldwide Withdrawal of VIOXX-R-.
- Press release article from: Business Wire September 30, 2004 700+ words
...not show any increased risk of confirmed...events on VIOXX, and in this...toxicity with VIOXX was less than...indicated an increased risk of cardiovascular...was not an increased risk of cardiovascular...events with VIOXX compared with...
- Vioxx studies question timing of heart attack risk.
- Magazine article from: Trial Burtka, Allison Torres July 1, 2006 700+ words
...withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, the company has maintained...that the drug causes increased risk of heart attack and...who had been taking Vioxx and those who had been...study as suggesting increased risk after only four months...Data Suggest Risks from Vioxx Begin Earlier in ...
- Merck Announces Voluntary Worldwide Withdrawal of VIOXX(R).
- Press release article from: PR Newswire Europe September 30, 2004 700+ words
...not show any increased risk of confirmed...events on VIOXX. "We are...toxicity with VIOXX was less than...indicated an increased risk of cardiovascular...was not an increased risk of cardiovascular events on VIOXX compared with...
- Merck knew of Vioxx heart attack risk 4 years ago, researchers say.(Knight...
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Loyd, Linda November 5, 2004 700+ words
...doses as the 50-milligram Vioxx dose. "The increased risk appears not to be dose-dependent...occurred in patients who took Vioxx less than six months and in...length of treatment influences increased risk," Juni said. In a scathing...
- Merck knew of Vioxx heart attack risk 4 years ago, researchers say.
- Newspaper article from: Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA) November 4, 2004 700+ words
...doses as the 50-milligram Vioxx dose. "The increased risk appears not to be dose-dependent...occurred in patients who took Vioxx less than six months and in...length of treatment influences increased risk," Juni said. In a scathing...
- Vioxx scare puts heat on Celebrex.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News October 7, 2004 700+ words
...mechanism" in both Vioxx and Celebrex that could...latest research showed an increased risk of heart attack and...in patients who took Vioxx for at least 18 months...drastic step of pulling Vioxx because its research showed that it caused increased risk of heart attack. The...
- Merck withdraws anti-arthritis drug Vioxx; stock plummets.
- Newspaper article from: Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA) September 30, 2004 700+ words
...it is withdrawing its Vioxx arthritis pain medicine because of an increased risk of heart attack and...consistently defended Vioxx, its $2.5 billion...the data showing the increased risk of cardiovascular complications...patients began taking Vioxx at a 25-milligram...
- Risks spur Merck to pull Vioxx off market.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News October 1, 2004 700+ words
...patients, half on Vioxx and half on a placebo...the study revealed increased risk of cardiovascular...patients taking Vioxx had twice as many...did not show any increased risk. The path to withdrawing Vioxx began Sept. 23...