» Merck Decided Against 2000 Vioxx Study - NY Times
November 13, 2004, Reuters.com - Top executives at pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. decided in May 2000 against developing a study to test directly whether its Vioxx painkiller drug might pose a heart risk, The New York Times reported on Saturday. Just two months after results from a clinical trial suggested concerns the popular anti-arthritis drug might cause a higher risk of heart attacks, company scientists questioned whether a focused trial was possible and marketing executives apparently feared one would undermine sales, the Times reported in an article on its Web site.

» Prescripion For Disaster
November 14, 2004, 60 Minutes - Did the manufacturer of Vioxx know that the painkiller could cause heart attacks and strokes long before it withdrew the drug from the market?

» Add The Feds to Those Questioning Vioxx
November 9, 2004, Forbes.com, NEW YORK - Add the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission to the club circling Merck and Vioxx.  Yesterday, Merck, in an otherwise routine quarterly filing, revealed that federal investigators were investigating what Merck knew in advance of its recent withdrawal of its popular painkiller on the grounds that it boosted the risk of heart attacks in long-term users.

» Wall Street Study Projects 50,000+ Lawsuits
Estimate assumes jury awards or settlements would require Merck to pay anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000 for each lawsuit, and that Merck might also pay another $1 billion to $2 billion in suits by Vioxx users who claim some other harm.

» Merck falls as e-mails suggest Vioxx smoking gun
NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Merck & Co. Inc.'s <MRK.N> Vioxx recall is mushrooming into a product-liability nightmare that erased another $23 billion of the company's valuation on Monday, but analysts said it will likely withstand the crisis.  Merck may eventually pay $5 to $15 billion payout.

» Merck Shares Plunge on Vioxx Denial News
November 1, 2004, Forbes.com, Shares of Merck & Co. plunged more than 7 percent Monday after a media report said that documents show the pharmaceutical giant hid or denied evidence for years that its blockbuster arthritis drug Vioxx cause heart problems.

» Recall Rattles Patients; Vioxx Heart Risk Should Vanish By Discontinuing Use of Drug, Physician Says.
October 19, 2004, RedNova.com, Some arthritis sufferers who appreciated the anti-inflammatory medicine Vioxx for its power over pain are now worried that the medicine might have hurt their heart.  Dr. Brent Mohr, a rheumatologist at the South Bend Clinic, said it will take a while for him and his staff to help patients make the transition to a different pain reliever.

» Vioxx was long under research microscope
October 12, 2004, Newsday.com, The study's findings were dramatic: 20 patients on Vioxx had heart attacks. Only four had heart attacks on the comparison drug. But that's not the study that prompted Merck & Co. to yank Vioxx off the market two weeks ago.....

» Merck Braces For Wave of Vioxx Lawsuits
Sat, Oct. 02, 2004, Philadelphia Inquirer (Philly.com) -- "Our preliminary .....

» How did Vioxx debacle happen?
10/12/2004 USA Today -- Merck yanked Vioxx on Sept. 30 because a new study had found a higher rate of heart attacks and strokes in patients taking the drug than in those on a placebo...

» Merck Braces For Wave of Vioxx Lawsuits
Sat, Oct. 02, 2004, Philadelphia Inquirer (Philly.com) -- "Our preliminary estimate is that about 16,632 people may ultimately file a legitimate lawsuit" against Merck over Vioxx, analyst Tim Anderson wrote in a report issued yesterday by the Prudential Equity Group...

» CNN: Arthritis drug Vioxx being pulled
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The arthritis drug Vioxx, used by millions of people around the world, is being pulled off the market after a study confirmed long-standing concerns that it raises the risk of heart attack and stroke, the manufacturer, Merck & Co., said today...

» Dow Average Falls After Merck Withdraws Vioxx; Nasdaq Advances
Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped after Merck & Co. retracted its third-quarter profit forecast because the company said it will no longer sell the Vioxx painkiller that generated $2.5 billion in sales last year.

» ABC News: "A Disaster": Merck Recalls Arthritis Drug Vioxx
Merck Recalls Vioxx Because Data From Clinical Trial Finds Higher Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke

» Drug-Safety Reviewer Says F.D.A. Delayed Vioxx Study
In a series of testy e-mail exchanges with his bosses, a federal drug-safety reviewer contends that an effort to publish his study demonstrating the dangers of Vioxx was delayed and demeaned by top officials at the Food and Drug Administration. Click here to read more.

» Internal FDA Memorandum Regarding COX-2 Selective and Non-Selective NSAIDS, including Vioxx.
Memorandum from David J. Graham, MD, MPH, Associate Director of Science, Office of Drug Safety to Paul Seligman, MD, MPH, Acting Director, Office of Drug Safety entitled, "Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction and Sudden Cardiac Death in Patients Treated with COX-2 Selective and Non-Selective NSAIDS", 09/30/04.

» Dow Average Falls as Merck Pulls Vioxx
Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped after Merck & Co. withdrew the Vioxx painkiller and reduced its 2004 profit forecast. The decision will lead to ``a big hit to earnings and a big hit for the growth of Merck,'' said Charles Bath, who owns Merck shares and helps manage $375 million at Diamond Hill Investment Group in Columbus, Ohio.

» Pfizer Acting to Fill Vioxx Void
Oct.1, 2004 - Drug giant Pfizer Inc. said Friday it is actively taking steps to fill the vacuum created by rival Merck & Co.'s Thursday withdrawal of competing drug Vioxx off the market because of studies showing a heart attack risk. Pfizer said it is approaching wholesalers, pharmacy chains, pharmacy benefit managers and other managed care organizations to assure them that the company will meet potential patient needs with its arthritis drug Celebrex.

» Expert: Vioxx Risk Could Have Been Spotted Sooner
Morning Edition, October 1, 2004 · A voluntary withdrawal of Vioxx from the market is the latest in a string of safety issues for the drug market. Dr. Alistair Wood, of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, says the serious dangers Vioxx posed could have been found before millions began taking the drug.

» Merck options' spike before Vioxx news questioned
CHICAGO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Heavy buying of bearish options on Merck & Co. (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) a day before it pulled its key arthritis drug Vioxx off the market is raising eyebrows among options market players. Some traders appear to have scored big on the bombshell news, which wiped out $27 billion of Merck's market value.

» Alternatives exist for users of Vioxx
Oct.1, 2004 - Patients who take Vioxx for chronic pain should stop using it immediately and call their doctor to seek alternative treatments, medical professionals said. Bob Lautman, owner of Mill Pharmacy and Surgical in Mount Laurel, said he received a few calls Thursday from customers concerned about Vioxx.

» Vioxx Recall Worries Local Patients, Doctors Give Advice
Sept.30, 2004 - Doctors' offices in Tyler have been busy all day taking calls from patients wondering what to do about their Vioxx. Dr. Steven Cohen of Trinity Clinic says he's angry at the drug maker. He says Merck should have notified physicians before making the sudden announcement to the public and causing all the concern.

» Merck recalls Vioxx, shares plunge
Merck & Co. is pulling its widely used arthritis drug, Vioxx, from the market after five years, confirming that the drug presents cardiovascular risks. Shares of the Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based firm plunged as much as 28% to an eight-year low of $32.46 in morning trading. They closed down 26.85, at $33.00.

» Merck's Vioxx Gets OK for Child Arthritis
Sept.8, 2004 - Merck (MRK:NYSE - news - research) said Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration has approved its arthritis drug Vioxx for treating juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The FDA's decision allows Merck to market the drug directly to physicians treating this disease, which is the most common form of arthritis in children, affecting an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 in the U.S.

» FDA Nod Won't Guarantee Drug Safety
FRIDAY, Sept. 3 (HealthDayNews) -- A 60-year-old woman with degenerative disk disease recently came into Dr. Allen Lebovits' Manhattan office with a complaint. This time, the grievance wasn't about the pain but about news reports linking Vioxx, her pain reliever, with an increased risk of heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths.

» Study links high doses of arthritis meds to increased heart attack risk
Aug.20, 2004 - Taking more than 25 mg per day of rofecoxib (Vioxx) is linked to a tripling of the risk of heart attack, said a paper presented in August at the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology Conference in Bordeaux, France. Researchers analyzed data from the HMO Kaiser Permanente for all patients prescribed COX-2 inhibitors or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories.

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