Vioxx Risks Lingered Far Longer Than Previously Known, New Study Finds
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The risk of heart attack, stroke, and death from the controversial arthritis drug and pain killer Vioxx continued for up to one year after patients stopped taking the drug, much longer than medical researchers previously thought, a new study finds. Merck’s blockbuster drug, released in 1999, was pulled from the market in 2004 over concerns about deadly side effects, mostly from long-term, high dose use of the drug. Research found that patients who took Vioxx faced more than twice the risk of heart attack and death as patients who took the anti-arthritis drug Celbrex, its main rival. An estimated 20…Continue » Posted in Dangerous Drugs