Latest
Vioxx
& Related Newswire
7/5/2006 9:30:00 PM | Witness says studies showed Vioxx users at risk of heart ailments 
=(0) More compelling testimony for the plaintiffs in the California Vioxx trial: Dr. Lemuel Moye of the University of Texas said his analysis of early Vioxx trials concluded that the risks of heart attack and stroke outweighed the benefits. Further, some trials excluded patients who were at a higher risk of heart attack, thus skewing the resu...
Read More
6/30/2006 3:12:00 PM | Merck Scientist Testifies Vioxx Caused More Heart Attacks Than ... =(0) Jurors for the California Vioxx trial continued to view videotaped depositions on the third day of the trial. A Merck researcher, Dr. Deborah Shapiro, testified that a 1999 study of 8000 patients showed that those given Vioxx had four times the number of heart attacks than those given Aleve (naproxen), an older NSAID. Merck claims that there i...
Read More
6/29/2006 3:04:00 AM | Testimony: Feds not told about tests that exposed Vioxx dangers =(0) The former head of Merck's research laboratories was heard in a video deposition on the second day of the Vioxx trial in California. Dr. Edward Scolnick said that two studies in 2001 showed that patients on Vioxx were 2-4 times more likely to die than patients on placebo; however Merck did not submit these results to the FDA. Merck is being su...
Read More
6/28/2006 9:13:00 AM | Plaintiff says Merck knew of potential dangers with Vioxx =(0) The first Vioxx trial to be held in California is under way. In opening statements, the plaintiff's lawyer said that Merck was aware of Vioxx's risks as far back as 1996 and did not inform doctors. Furthermore, the company specifically trained salespeople to downplay the risks. Stewart Grossberg claims the drug caused his heart attack an...
Read More
6/27/2006 10:11:00 PM | Journal Corrects Vioxx Article to Reflect Short-Term Heart Risk =(0) The New England Journal of Medicine has issued a correction with regard to a study on the heart risks of Vioxx. The study, released in 2005 and funded by Merck, the drug company that made Vioxx, concluded that the risks of heart attack began only after 18 months of Vioxx treatment. A followup study, however, adds more data which suggests...
Read More
6/27/2006 6:32:00 PM | Plaintiff Lawyers Like Vioxx Correction =(0) Lawyers who lost Vioxx cases to Merck (three such cases, so far) are encouraged by the news that the New England Journal of Medicine has issued a correction with regard to a Vioxx study it published last year. The correction removed references to the crucial 18 month time period that Merck claims is a safe period before heart side effects kick in.&...
Read More
6/26/2006 3:58:00 PM | Merck says Vioxx risk unchanged by data correction =(0) From the "if I say it, that makes it so" file, the drugmaker Merck continues to insist that studies originally reported in the New England Journal of Medicine are still valid despite a correction issued by that publication. The Journal retracted the part of the article that concluded that Vioxx heart risk only begins after 18 months of use, af...
Read More
6/23/2006 4:09:00 PM | Merck: FDA whistleblower's video testimony goes beyond limits =(0) Lawyers for drug company Merck are trying to suppress some testimony from an upcoming Vioxx trial. An FDA researcher, Dr. David Graham, made a video deposition in which he alleged that for two years, Merck resisted FDA requests to change the labelling on Vioxx to reflect what was becoming known about the risk of heart attacks and strokes with the d...
Read More
6/22/2006 3:27:00 AM | State Vioxx trial begins to pick jury =(0) The first Vioxx trial to take place in California is at the jury-selection phase. The plaintiff, Stewart Grossberg, claims his heart attack at age 66 was brought on by Vioxx, which he had taken for more than two years at that time. This case was originally set to be tried alongside that of Rudolph Arrigale, who had a heart attack after only fi...
Read More
6/16/2006 4:00:00 PM | Lawyer: Merck Scrapped Study on Vioxx =(0) Evidence presented in the current Vioxx trial going on in New Jersey, suggests that Merck cancelled a study of the drug's heart safety the day after a labelling issue was settled with the FDA. A Merck official testified that the timing was a coincidence. Evidence was also presented concerning Merck's efforts to counterbalance doctors' con...
Read More
6/8/2006 2:52:00 PM | Timeline: The Rise and Fall of Vioxx =(0) This is an excellent summary of the events surrounding the approval and eventual withdrawal of Vioxx, from 1998 to the present (June 2006). It outlines how evidence of heart and stroke complications existed from the beginning, and how conflict of interest and witholding of data might have impacted decisions regarding clinical studies. It...
Read More
6/8/2006 1:46:00 PM | Early Vioxx Study Continued Despite Clear Risks =(0) This is a transcript of a recent National Public Radio (NPR) show that reveals that even in 1999, there was evidence that Vioxx caused heart and stroke related problems. A large study compared people taking Vioxx to people taking naproxen (Aleve) and found the cardiac risk with Vioxx to be greater and to increase with time; however this study was n...
Read More
6/7/2006 10:14:00 PM | Merck Goes for Early Knockout in Calif. Vioxx Case =(0) Two Vioxx lawsuits are set to go to trial later in June in California. Both involve men who had heart attacks and were taking Vioxx. Merck is trying to stop one of those cases before it starts, by moving for summary judgement on the grounds that the statute of limitations had run out on the lawsuit; that motion will be heard by a judge on Jun...
Read More
6/6/2006 3:02:00 AM | Celebrex Trial Is Delayed =(0) There has been a postponement for the first lawsuit against Pfizer for medical conditions allegedly caused by its Cox-2 class of painkiller drugs. A judge requested the delay to allow more gathering of information about Celebrex, which is suspected of causing the Alabama plaintiff's stroke in 2005. Unlike Vioxx, Celebrex has not been withdrawn...
Read More
6/5/2006 10:32:00 PM | Latest Vioxx case hinges on warning =(0) The latest Vioxx liability trial is under way in New Jersey, with a 68 year old grandmother as plaintiff. Elaine Doherty had a heart attack in January 2004. At the time she had been taking Vioxx for arthritis for over two years. She claims that Merck downplayed the risks of taking Vioxx in letters to doctors and in mentioning them in the...
Read More
6/2/2006 12:39:00 PM | Grandmother's Trial Against Vioxx Starts =(0) The latest Vioxx lawsuit to get underway involves a grandmother of seven who claims that Vioxx caused her heart attack and led to her subsequent bypass operation. Elaine Doherty is the first female Vioxx litigant and the first to be heard since new information was disclosed about the timing of Vioxx-related heart risks. Merck claims the p...
Read More
6/1/2006 10:53:00 PM | Ibuprofen 'doubles the risk of a heart attack' =(0) A large British study finds that high doses of ibuprofen taken for a long time, doubles the risk of heart attack. This risk does not apply to people who use it occasionally, in doses recommended by over the counter labelling. Risk of stroke or other cardiovascular disease also rose, but by a smaller degree. While this mirrors the fin...
Read More
5/19/2006 11:08:00 AM | Drugs upset stomach =(0) A study in Australia finds that people taking medications for arthritis are at risk of hospitalization for stomach problems such as ulcers. With all the publicity surrounding the heart and stroke risk of drugs such as Vioxx, the stomach risks have been ignored. Many non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are available without a prescri...
Read More
5/19/2006 5:03:00 AM | New Vioxx data suggest heart attack, stroke risks started within ... =(0) Data recently made public suggests that risk of damage from taking Vioxx may begin earlier, and persist longer, than Merck, the drug maker, claims. The study in question was done by Merck but not released in its entirety until now. While Merck continues to insist that risk only begins after 18 months of use, and declines quickly upon stop...
Read More
5/2/2006 8:35:00 PM | Vioxx Heart Attacks May Occur in 2 Weeks, Study Says =(0) A new Canadian study suggests that the effects of Vioxx on heart attack risk may occur in as little as a week. While Merck, the drug's maker, insists that any risk occurs only after long term use, this and other data could have an effect on the outcome of thousands of lawsuits claiming damages from Vioxx use. Other findings from this stud...
Read More
Drugs & Side Effects News 1 | Drugs & Side Effects News 2