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Vioxx was withdrawn from U.S. drugstores in September 2004 after a Merck study showed that long-term users of the drug had twice the risk of heart attack and stroke.
An analysis of 20 years of data on the health of over 900 adults has found that long-term use of traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen and naproxen, cuts the risk for oral cancer in smokers by half.
The findings came to light while the researchers were studying the wildly different ways in which cells in human blood vessels and joints respond to pressure gradients generated from liquid moving along their surface, a force called shear stress.
Utah State University researchers are in the early stages of scientifically tricking the body into eating less and finding a treatment for obesity without dangerous side effects.
Their findings that a chemical imbalance might underlie such damage could also lead to the development of anti-inflammatory drugs without the adverse side effects, the researchers said.
Scientists from Stanford University say they have discovered that vitamin D, known as the "sunshine vitamin,"can limit the growth of prostate cancer cells when combined with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Low doses of the active form of vitamin D and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, taken in combination, have been shown to act as a powerful one-two punch that knocks down the growth of prostate cancer cells.
A close structural relative of the celebrated COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib (brand name: Celebrex) is a potent tumor fighter, able to wipe out tumor cells that are resistant to conventional chemotherapies, according to an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Southern California.
Drug company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is disputing claims that its antidepressant Paxil was linked to an increased suicide risk in adults.
After the failure of cox II inhibitors such as Vioxx, osteoarthritis patients and their doctors are faced with a lack of alternative therapies. The Orthokine-therapy means knee-injections of IL-1Ra protein, obtained from the patient's blood.
Pharmaceutical companies in the United States are up in arms over plans by U.S. regulators to release preliminary information, about the potential side effects of drugs.
A canadian health advisory panel says that Merck's arthritis drug Vioxx should be allowed to go on sale again in the country, 10 months after the company withdrew the blockbuster painkiller over reports that it increased the risk of heart disease.
An independent panel of experts say heart-failure drug Natrecor should be restricted and only used with acutely ill hospitalized patients.
Researchers in the UK are saying that some of the most commonly used painkillers are more likely to cause heart attacks than Vioxx, the arthritis drug withdrawn from the market last year after it was linked to heart disease.
New guidance on NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) use is urgently needed to ensure the best patient care, European experts said today. The news coincides with the results from a European survey of 626 arthritis patients which found that many are confused and worried about the potential side-effects of their medication.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers have found additional evidence that may help explain how selective inhibitors of COX-2 might predispose individuals to heart disease and stroke.
Colon cancer patients who took aspirin regularly fared better after surgery, reducing their risk of disease recurrence and death by half compared to non-users, researchers will report at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
The Medicare program in the U.S. plans to use data from its 43 million patients in order to accelerate the detection of dangerous side effects from drugs already on the market.
A monitoring program developed by a Northwestern University researcher has successfully identified a large number of previously unknown, serious and often-fatal drug reactions associated with 15 commonly used drugs, including Plavix®, thalidomide and drug-coated cardiac stents.
In a recent study Jonathan Sackner-Bernstein, a doctor at North Shore University Hospital in New York says that Natrecor, heart failure treatment produced by drug company Johnson & Johnson may be linked to a greater risk of death when compared with standard therapy.
Amid the recent controversy and confusion over serious side effects from pain medications, a new UCLA and Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System study demonstrates that for arthritis sufferers at high risk for gastrointestinal problems who traditionally may have used a drug like Vioxx, the most cost-effective and safest treatment is actually a common painkiller combined with an acid-reducing drug.