Vioxx, also known as refecoxib, is a prescription COX-2 selective, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that was approved by FDA in May 1999 for the relief of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis, for the management of acute pain in adults, and for the treatment of menstrual symptoms.
Vioxx was withdrawn from U.S. drugstores in September 2004 after a Merck study showed that long-term users of the drug had twice the risk of heart attack and stroke.
State appeals courts in New Jersey and Texas on Thursday reversed two jury verdicts and a judgment on payment of legal fees in lawsuits related to the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx that would have required Merck to pay about $37 million, Bloomberg/Washington Post reports (Van Voris/Voreacos, Bloomberg/Washington Post, 5/30).
Merck on Tuesday agreed to a $58 million settlement with 29 states and the District of Columbia to end investigations over allegations that it downplayed cardiovascular risks caused by the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx in direct-to-consumer advertisements dating back to 1999, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Raffaele, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/21).
A large study by scientists in the U.S. has revealed that the long-term use of ibuprofen may reduce the risk of a person developing Alzheimer's disease.
The New York Times on Saturday examined how a recent report indicating that Merck used "ghostwriters" to produce medical journal articles in support of the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx "has galvanized opponents to a federal proposal that would relax some restrictions on drug promotion" in the U.S.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent a letter to Merck Chief Operating Officer Richard Clark requesting the company explain a recent report that found the company used employees or paid consultants rather than the physicians listed as lead authors to write several published studies of the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx, CQ HealthBeat reports.
Representatives of health care marketing firms, patient advocacy groups and pharmaceutical companies this week are in Washington, D.C., to express support for loosening rules regarding drug companies' ability to market medications for off-label uses, the Wall Street Journal reports (Mundy, Wall Street Journal, 4/18).
In the current issue of The RAND Journal of Economics, USC researchers provide a challenge to the classic economic model of information manipulation, in which knowing more than anybody else is the key to influence.
In an article published in the March issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, researchers from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) assess the totality of evidence, including strengths and limitations of different types of evidence contributing to the debate about cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Merck & Company has agreed to pay more than $650 million to resolve allegations that the pharmaceutical manufacturer failed to pay proper rebates to Medicaid and other government health care programs and paid illegal remuneration to health care providers to induce them to prescribe the company's products, the Justice Department has announced.
USA Today on Monday examined how some pharmaceutical industry analysts cite "more cautious regulators and less innovation by drug makers" as reasons for the low rate of new drug approvals in 2007 (Schmit, USA Today, 2/4).
Celebrex, a popular arthritis drug that blocks pain by inhibiting an enzyme known as COX-2, has been shown in laboratory studies to induce arrhythmia, or irregular beating of the heart, via a novel pathway unrelated to its COX-2 inhibition.
The drug watchdog in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has expressed concerns regarding the anti-smoking drug Chantix.
Drug giant Pfizer has won a court ruling in the United States which could limit the lawsuits the company might possibly face over claims that its painkiller Celebrex caused heart attacks and strokes.
In a petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an international coalition of scientists and doctors seeks to compel the agency to stem the flood of dangerous drugs reaching American consumers by mandating the use of scientifically superior non-animal testing methods when those alternatives exist.
Health authorities in Canada have withdrawn the osteoarthritis drug Prexige from the market amid concerns the drug increases the risk for serious liver-related damage including hepatitis.
The drug company Merck is facing joint action from New York State and New York City over the millions which were spent on health programs related to the drug Vioxx.
Incidents of serious adverse drug events including deaths reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rose by more than double over a seven year period and painkillers and immune-system boosters were responsible for most.
Vioxx and related pain medications were taken off the market in 2004 because they caused dangerous heart problems in some people.
These days the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking no chances when it comes to the safety of new drugs.
Little evidence supports using rosiglitazone (Avandia) to improve the quality or length of life among adults with diabetes, according to a systematic review of data by German researchers.