Merck Vioxx pays

[Alastair]

Drugs firm Merck has been ordered to pay $32m (�18m) in damages after its Vioxx painkiller was found to have contributed to a fatal heart attack.
A Texas jury awarded $25m in punitive damages and $7m in compensatory damages - holding the firm liable after a 71-year-old died after taking the drug.

Merck will appeal and said Leonel Garza had died after years of heart disease.

The case was the sixth of 11,500 suits to reach a verdict, with Merck having three wins and three losses.

The money will be paid to Mr Garza's family.

Court arguments

Merck withdrew Vioxx in 2004 when it was linked to higher rates of heart attacks, and it now faces a raft of legal actions.

The firm says it thoroughly tested the drug before it went on sale and carefully monitored it afterwards.

Everybody knows that Texas is a very anti-pharma, anti-company state - I wouldn't read too much into this verdict

Shaojing Tong
Analyst at Mehta Partners

In court the Garza family's legal team admitted that the dead man had a history of heart problems, but argued that his veins had been cleared and tests showed less than a 2% risk of heart attack within a year.

According to them Mr Garza had taken Vioxx for almost a month before he died in April 2001, something Merck disputed saying he may have taken the drug for less than a week.

Merck lawyers also said there was no proven link between heart problems and use of the drug for less than 18 months.

In its two previous court losses Vioxx was ordered to pay one plaintiff $253.4m, which will be reduced to $26m under Texas caps on punitive damages, and in the other $13.5m.

Analyst Shaojing Tong, analyst at Mehta Partners, said: "Everybody knows that Texas is a very anti-pharma, anti-company state. I wouldn't read too much into this verdict."

[Harrison]

I took Vioxx a few years ago before any of this legal stuff transpired. I actually stopped taking it then because of chest pains. Can a get a few million dollars please?!

Heard my NS tell a patient via phone to keep taking Celebrex the other day, and my jaw hit the floor.

Wondering if I should send the following link on the dangers of Celebrex and Vioxx:

http://www.glucosamine-osteoarthritis.org/osteoarthriti...ebrex-and-vioxx.html

Trace

to bad its bad for you. because awhile back i was given celebrex and it worked great for while with the other meds i had 0 pain except the nerve pain on my left thigh. i havent taken anything that stopped the burning.
i stopped taken it before a was made public the problems when my dad and unlce and step brother passed away due to heart stuff all within a few yrs.
chuck

[spotty14]

Vioxx helped my inflammation so mcuh like nothing else, and I took it until my pills were gone.

[Harrison]

Hey Vioxx did work really well for me too! I just decided that a beating heart was more important than beating inflammation.

I take Celebrex now on occasion (not my lower back, it's great). Sure, it's a COX-2, but it's a different drug -- at least that's my read. If you don't hear from me in a while, then you'll know that my research & assumptions were woefully flawed!

"The study showed that out of 48,000 patients, those given a placebo pill had an annual heart attack rate of only 0.52%. Those taking Vioxx suffered heart attacks at a rate of 0.74%. Celebrex patients ran the highest risk � at a whopping 0.80% heart attack rate. That is an increase from 249 deaths to 384 per year, or an additional 135 people - out of just this small sample group! Some research indicates the numbers may even be as high as two to three times the baseline - thats going from 249 to 749, an additional 500 deaths a year just from those 48,000 patients! What most people do not realize is how many millions of people were taking Vioxx and still take Bextra and Celebrex!"

One study alone, and not to give you a heart attack just from reading, Harrison, but....

Trace

[Harrison]

Here's yet another take on cardio risks associated with NSAIDs. It's from the BBC, so you know it MUST be true.
____________

Heart attack risk with pain drugs
People taking high daily doses of two common painkillers are at increased risk of heart attack and stroke, say Oxford researchers.

But the British Medical Journal study says the risk is moderate, with only an extra three people in every thousand suffering from an adverse reaction.

Long term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen and diclofenac have raised fears before.

They are standard drugs for those with chronic pain, like arthritis sufferers.

Concern had focused on the newer COX-2 drugs, but there are now also fears over NSAIDs.

The doses given for chronic pain conditions are much higher than those used by people taking the drugs as occasional painkillers.

The newer COX-2 inhibitors were developed to avoid the side effects of gastric bleeding and ulcers which sometimes occurred with traditional NSAIDs.

One COX-2, Vioxx, was taken off the market after concerns about the risk of heart attack.

-------------------
These drugs are very important in helping people to control their pain and it is for patients to discuss with their doctors whether this risk is acceptable for them
-- Dr Colin Baigent, researcher
--------------------

Some studies have shown the risk of heart attacks and strokes might also be associated with other NSAIDs, but the results have not been clear-cut.

By analysing data from all randomised trials that recorded serious vascular events in patients on NSAIDs, the researchers from Oxford University found that, in patients taking COX-2s, the odds of a heart attack or stroke increased by 42% compared with placebo.

The odds were increased by 51% for high-dose ibuprofen (800mg three times a day) and 63% for high-dose diclofenac (75mg twice a day).

Another NSAID - naproxen - was found not to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events.

Small risk

The researchers stressed that the overall risk was small - for every 1,000 patients taking a COX-2 or an NSAID around three extra people a year would have a heart attack.

Dr Colin Baigent, lead researcher said: "With this data we now have a complete picture of the effects of COX-2s and NSAIDs.

"The important point is that for most people who don't have a history of heart attack or stroke the risk is very small.

"These drugs are very important in helping people to control their pain and it is for patients to discuss with their doctors whether this risk is acceptable for them.

He added that more studies were needed on other effects of naproxen before any recommendations could be made on its use.

Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation said there was mounting evidence that taking high doses of NSAIDs increases the chances of heart attack.

"However, the increased risk is small and many patients with chronic debilitating pain may well feel that this small risk is worth taking to relieve their symptoms," he said.

Informed choice

Dr Jim Kennedy, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners' prescribing committee said: "We would first try patients on simple analgesics such as paracetamol and then treatments with codeine in.

"COX-2s and NSAIDs are a third-line option, and the patient has to make an informed choice about that."

"A lot of patients say the drugs are the difference between having independence and not being able get out of the house."

A spokesperson for Arthritis Care agreed that patients should be left to make the choice: "Millions of people take NSAIDs, and those taking higher doses do so because they're in a significant amount of pain.

"Provided they have accurate information, they can make an informed choice about whether it's the right one for them."

Professor Rob Moots, consultant rheumatologist at University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool said: "It's important patients take them when they need them rather than taking a high dose every day - that way the risk is absolutely minimised."

A spokesperson for the International Ibuprofen Foundation emphasised the study specifically referred to high dose prescription treatment of patients with painful conditions, particularly osteoarthritis.

"The occasional and short-term use of ibuprofen for minor pain conditions - the way the majority of consumers in the UK use over-the-counter ibuprofen products, is not shown to be a risk factor."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...th/5037350.stm

Published: 2006/06/02 09:12:09 GMT