Arthritis drug boosts heart disease risk
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
PARIS, Oct 14 (AFP): The arthritis drug Vioxx nearly doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke compared to no treatment at all, according to a long-term follow-up study released Tuesday.
But the risk virtually disappeared, the study found, a year after patients stopped taking the once widely-used painkiller, which was recalled by manufacturer Merck in 2004 after research showed a link with heart disease.
Last year the US-based pharmaceutical giant, while not admitting fault, agreed to pay out 4.85 billion dollars (3.57 billion euros) to head off some 50,000 pending lawsuits.
Other drugs in the same class, known as Cox-2 inhibitors, may also increase the chances of strokes and heart attack, the authors said.
A team of researchers in Britain and the United States followed up on clinical trials conducted in 2000 and 2001 designed to assess whether a three-year treatment with rofecoxib -- the generic name for Vioxx -- would prevent cancerous colon polyps from reappearing.
The trial was stopped a couple of months shy of the planned completion date when Vioxx was recalled.
But the risk virtually disappeared, the study found, a year after patients stopped taking the once widely-used painkiller, which was recalled by manufacturer Merck in 2004 after research showed a link with heart disease.
Last year the US-based pharmaceutical giant, while not admitting fault, agreed to pay out 4.85 billion dollars (3.57 billion euros) to head off some 50,000 pending lawsuits.
Other drugs in the same class, known as Cox-2 inhibitors, may also increase the chances of strokes and heart attack, the authors said.
A team of researchers in Britain and the United States followed up on clinical trials conducted in 2000 and 2001 designed to assess whether a three-year treatment with rofecoxib -- the generic name for Vioxx -- would prevent cancerous colon polyps from reappearing.
The trial was stopped a couple of months shy of the planned completion date when Vioxx was recalled.