Vioxx was taken off the market years ago based on a connection to heart attacks and related ailments. Soon thereafter, pain drugs in general were under the proverbial microscope to ensure heart problems were not side effects of trying to get rid of pain.

The latest on why Vioxx apparently caused heart problems in many patients now states that the prescription drug raises the production of a protein called tissue factor (TF) -- and that can contribute to unwanted blood clotting.

Blood clotting can turns into blockages, causing heart attacks. Although the percentage can be low (in terms of patients seeing heart problems), was it right to take Vioxx off the market? One death positively attributed to a prescription drug is enough, right? Or, wrong?

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The absolute blitzkrieg of lawsuits set to come on full force next year regarding the Vioxx painkiller product is staggering.

Over 8,500 lawsuits are expected, and with such a volume of activity, the judge assigned to the federal trials stated this past week that patients who had strokes while taking the drug will be the main focus of each trial. What that means is only cases where strokes were involved may be tried.

Does this seem particularly bothersome to you? Vioxx was involved in possible heart complications, and although Merck (the manufacturer) has won four of five court cases dealing with heart problems related to Vioxx so far, are the rest simply going to vanish? Weird.

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After having been reported to be disapproved by the FDA, Merck's arthritis drug Arcoxia was officially panned by the Food and Drug Administration this past week, taking with it any hopes of that drug ever being sold in the U.S.

The new osteoarthritis drug will continue to be marketed outside of the U.S. according to Merck representatives, but won't be seen in the U.S.

Although Arcoxia will be sold in 63 countries, Merck was unable to prove to the FDA that it was a better pain drug than related drugs. After the Vioxx mess from a few years back, it was going to be an uphill climb to prove that Arcoxia was also safe. Apparently, it was not.

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It was quite surprising that the FDA returned the Vioxx anti-pain drug to the market after it was pulled by its manufacturer due to reports of serious heart problem side effects. How about you? Anyway, the drug's manufacturer, Merck, is facing another hurdle as its Arcoxia drug is facing intense scrutiny as well. In other words, the FDA sent Arcoxia packing with a non-approval.

But in related news, reports came in just after Arcoxia's FDA rejection hurdles that stated 1,000 Vioxx lawsuits may be thrown out of court. The mixed signals for Merck here end in the company stating that "We will continue to market Arcoxia outside the U.S., where it has been approved for a broad range of applications, including osteoarthritis."

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It's always a very good idea for patients to ask doctors about remedies for certain ailments outside of prescription drugs (how about lifestyle changes). In my view, there are many prescription drugs that have such horrid side effects a radical change in behavior seems easier than dealing with possible side effect complications.

In the latest news about prescription drugs having heat problem side effects, British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline stated that a drug to treat gastrointestinal side effects of opioid painkillers was indeed linked to higher risk of heart attacks and other serious heart problems.

So, we have another painkiller that causes heart issues as a side effect. Which is worse -- getting rid of pain with an increasing potential for heart problems? You have to make that call.

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The Week magazine ran a controversial article entitled "The Corruption of Medicine" last week.

Cases of biased research of pharmaceutical drugs are rampant and getting worse. These are not small offenses, but problems that have caused many patients their lives.

By now, the case of Vioxx is well known. This drug, created to ease the pain of osteoarthritis and other illnesses was rushed to market using FDA data based on studies done by Merck's own employees. Later, we found out that Merck had information before the approval process that Vioxx did cause heart-attack deaths, but they hid it from the FDA. The drug was eventually withdrawn, after causing over 88,000 heart attacks in patients, with an estimate of at least 26,000 deaths.

But the article contains many more surprises.

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