Contributed by Tom Harrison| 13 September, 2006 20:00 GMT
Merck's Vioxx troubles just keep mounting. New research indicates that the withdrawn arthritis painkiller may have caused medical problems even worse than the ones that spurred over 16,000 lawsuits -- and counting.
Though Vioxx is long gone from the market, the ripple effect of potential damage caused by the withdrawn drug continues to grow. Merck's arthritis painkiller, already the target of more than 16,000 lawsuits over its suspected link to heart attacks and strokes, caused an increased risk in kidney problems and erratic heartbeats, or arrhythmia, according to new research published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
Through the analysis of data gleaned from 114 clinical trials involving more than 116,000 patients, Harvard University investigators learned that Vioxx was associated with an increased risk of such renal events as swelling of the hands and feet, high blood pressure and kidney dysfunction.
A second study also published in JAMA found that heart problems from using the drug could develop much sooner than Merck has acknowledged -- even after just one month of treatment. The company has been saying that patients who took the drug for less than 18 months did not experience increased cardiovascular risk.
Merck rejected the validity of the two reports, both of which are meta-analyses of the results of a large number of previous studies.
Another review has indirectly implicated Merck's Arcoxia, which is pending approval by the
Food and Drug Administration, as potentially damaging to the heart.
Many more lawsuits are likely to be filed based on the latest findings, say analysts, and the company's shares slipped on the stock market as a result of the news. |
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