Vioxx, Celebrex, ibuprofen and other NSAID painkillers increase the chances that heart attack and heart failure patients will experience a second heart attack or death, a new study says.  According to Danish researchers, the risk of a second heart attack or death actually doubled within the first 90 days of starting Vioxx or Celebrex.  Other painkillers, like ibuprofen, increased the risk between 2.1 and 1.3 times.

The study was presented this week at the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans.  At least one of the researchers recommended that physicians now avoid these types of painkillers, or use low doses, in patients with a history of heart attack or heart failure. (more…)

A new study that confirms the heart risks associated with a class of drugs called NSAIDs has found that the increased risk correlates to the specific pain-causing molecule they act against.   According to the study, NSAIDS that are cox-2 inhibitors are more likely to increase the risks of heart attacks and strokes.

NSAIDs  are the most prescribed medications for treating conditions such as arthritis. Most people are familiar with over-the-counter, nonprescription NSAIDs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen. NSAIDs also include prescription drugs like Celebrex, as well as the now-banned Vioxx. (more…)

Pfizer has reached a tentative agreement to settle lawsuits involving its Bextra and Celebrex painkillers for  $894 million.  If it goes forward, the Pfizer Bextra and Celebrex settlement will resolve roughly 90 percent of the personal injury lawsuits the company faces because of the drugs.

Celebrex and Bextra are COX-2 inhibitors, a class of drugs that also includes Merck’s recalled Vioxx.  Such medications are linked to an increased risk of blood clots, heart attacks and strokes. Pfizer withdrew Bextra from the market in 2005, and  Celebrex is the only COX-2 inhibitor still on the market in the United States. (more…)

Heart risks from Vioxx, the defective painkiller pulled from the market in 2004, lingered long after many patients stopped taking the drug.  According to a report in The Washington Post, a study conducted by researchers at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX found that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attack and stroke by “close to twofold, and the risk persisted for approximately a year”.

The authors of the study, which was published online by the journal Lancet, also believe that long-term use of other NSAIDs, including now-banned Bextra, as well as Celebrex, and over-the-counter versions of ibuprofen and naproxen,  increase stroke and heart attack risks to some extent. (more…)

Earlier this week, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum sued Merck and Company, Inc. for damages caused by the company’s allegedly deceptive marketing and promotion of its prescription drug, Vioxx.  The lawsuit states that Merck repeatedly failed to disclose Vioxx’s adverse effects while offering it to Florida’s Medicaid program as a safe painkiller.  The Attorney General’s office is charging the Merck violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

Vioxx is a non-steroid anti-inflammatory medication used to treat joint pain and was one of the most widely prescribed and advertised drugs until it was removed from the market in 2004 for serious adverse effects.  The lawsuit follows a three-year investigation of Merck’s promotional practices as they relate to Vioxx and alleges that, due to Merck’s marketing practices, many state agencies approved Vioxx as a covered or approved drug and agreed to pay for the prescription or reimburse its expense. Vioxx purchases by the Florida Medicaid program exceeded $80 million between 1999 and 2004. (more…)

Tom Nesi, a former insider in the world of big pharmaceuticals, has just written a new book entitled ¬Poison Pills:  The Untold Story of the Vioxx Drug Scandal.  Nesi hopes to expose what happens when consumers take newly approved, heavily marketed prescription medications.

Nesi, a former long-time director of public affairs at pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb, boasts over 30 years’ experience in medical communications and strategy.  Today, Nesi is a writer and consultant, with his latest book discussing the Vioxx scandal.  Vioxx is the prescription painkiller that was pulled from the market after doctors realized too late it caused sometimes-fatal heart, blood, and kidney problems. Nesi says his overarching goal is to better enable consumers to utilize good medicines and avoid the harm that others can cause. (more…)

Merck & Co. investors can sue the drug maker for losses they sustained when Vioxx was taken off the market because of safety problems, a federal appeals court has ruled.  The class action Vioxx securities fraud lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of investors, was originally dismissed by a federal judge in Newark, N.J in April 2007.

Merck removed the Vioxx from the market in 2004 after a Food & Drug Administration (FDA) study estimated that Vioxx could have contributed to 27,785 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths between 1999 and 2003. The Vioxx recall spawned thousands of  product liability lawsuits.  Earlier this year, Merck agreed to settle most of those Vioxx claims for $4.85 billion.  However, investor lawsuits were not included in that settlement deal. (more…)

Taking ibuprofen daily to relieve arthritis pain could put some older people at a higher risk of heart problems, including heart attack and stroke, a new study has found.  The researchers conducting the study found that ibuprofen was the only painkiller, other than Vioxx, that increased this risk.

The painkiller study was conducted by scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.  The research team studied the medical records of female patients from two databases of Medicare recipients enrolled in drug benefit programs between 1999 and 2004. The average age of the patients in the study was 80. (more…)

Partial settlement payments will soon be in the mail to those people who claim that taking Vioxx caused them to suffer heart attacks, the Associated Press is reporting. Vioxx is the pain reliever that was linked to heart failure and has since been removed from the market.  Payments are scheduled to begin being sent on August 28 as part of the $4.85 billion settlement between drug maker Merck & Co. and plaintiffs’ lawyers.

This payment mailing comprises about 40 percent of each plaintiff’s estimated total payout; it remains unclear how many plaintiffs will be receiving payments in this initial batch.  The settlement is meant to end the majority of the personal injury lawsuits filed against Merck last November.  Three years prior, Merck pulled Vioxx after its research confirmed Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke. (more…)

A Vioxx study that was supposedly meant to find out if the recalled painkiller was less likely to cause stomach problems than another drug was really nothing more than a marketing ploy, a new report says.   According to Merck & Co. memos and reports obtained during Vioxx lawsuits, the Advantage study was crafted by Merck’s marketing department to get physicians to prescribe Vioxx.  What’s worse, when the study was published, it omitted information about patients who had suffered cardiovascular problems while enrolled in the trial.

Vioxx was approved for use in 1999, and quickly became a blockbuster for Merck, with annual sales of $2.5 billion. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) ordered the painkiller off the market after an analysis of patients using Vioxx linked the defective drug to more than 27,000 heart attacks or sudden cardiac deaths in the U.S. from 1999 through 2003. The Vioxx recall led to thousands of lawsuits. (more…)