Vioxx Center

Rofecoxib is an anti-inflammatory drug which was marketed by Merck & Co., under the brand name Vioxx. The manufacturer voluntarily withdrew Vioxx from the market on September 30, 2004 as the internal studies conducted by Merck showed that the patients who consume this drug are more prone to cardiovascular problems than the patients taking other drugs. Before the withdrawal, Vioxx was administered to treat osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, acute pain in adults, primary dysmenorrhea and migraine attacks. Vioxx was administered orally and the lowest possible dosage is prescribed to the patients. Studies conducted on arthritis patients showed that the incidence of hypertension was more in patients treated with Vioxx than the other patients treated with some other drug like naproxen.Also, the study indicated that Vioxx can cause uneasiness and sometimes more severe side effects such as gastrointestinal bleeding that may result in hospitalization. The side effects were referred as “adverse cardiovascular effects” in the medical circles. Merck build up a very forceful marketing campaign for Vioxx when it was released to the market, resulting in massive sales revenue of the drug. Merck was immensely benefited by the Vioxx sales which were about $2.5 billion during 2003. People worldwide have been prescribed Vioxx ever since it was introduced as Vioxx was one of the commonly prescribed drugs in US. Due to the vast popularity of Vioxx, the withdrawal of Vioxx in 2004 was the biggest drug withdrawal at that time. Vioxx is generally known as NSAID, cox-2 inhibitor. There are many other accepted cox-2 inhibitors which was widely prescribed such as Bextra and Celebrex. Bextra, another cox-2 inhibitor marketed by Pfizer has also been withdrawn voluntarily from the market because of the side-effects leading to severe cardiovascular problems such as stroke and heart attack.

We all appear to get more receptive to the side effects of drugs and the severity of the problem is more in elderly people. Often this is difficult especially when we suffer from more than one disease during the same period. If you consume an anti-inflammatory drug for a longer period, your doctor will warn you of the most suspected side-effect, the ulceration of the stomach. It was earlier hoped that the new generation cox-2 drugs would cure the disease without any serious side-effects. It was believed that internal bleeding and other ulcer related dangers could be avoided with these drugs. If you are an elderly person, then you are at a greater risk as this may result in sudden occurrence of ulcer bleeding or slow blood loss.

Whenever, someone got the symptoms and signs of ulcers, they were prescribed drugs meant for treating ulcer. Some may stop the medication middle way while some others may continue a maintenance dose to avert ulcers coming back along with old ibuprofen drugs to treat their arthritis. It was hoped that drugs like Vioxx would give cure to such situations; however ulceration yet remains a possibility. Doctors regularly consider prescribing anti-ulcer drugs to decrease the chance of this happening.

A new study conducted by Merck pointed out that after taking Vioxx for some 18 months or more, the patient will be at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. So if you had taken vioxx for only a week or for some months, you may not suffer from the side-effects. Only when you have taken Vioxx continuously for a period of 18 months or more, you are likely to suffer from side-effects such as heart attack or stroke.

When you experience such side-effects only your doctor can advice you and prescribe medication as he will have your entire medical history. There is a large amount of research which has to be considered before finding solution to the problems created by the consumption of Vioxx. When you smoke, you raise the risk of intestinal or stomach ulceration and it doubles when you also take Ibuprofen, the anti-inflammatory drug. If you take some other medication for anxiety or depression then these drugs would enhance the risk of internal bleeding. It has now been proved that all cox-2 drugs available on the market can demonstrate undesirable effects on the heart.

Many studies conducted by various other institutions states that Vioxx can cause uneasiness and even more severe side effects like gastrointenstial bleeding which may require hospitalization. Though serious gastrointestinal tract bleeding and ulcerations can occur without any symptoms, patients are advised to be alert for the signs of ulcerations and internal bleeding and they should take medical advice when they felt any pinpointing signs or symptoms. Patients should assess the importance of regular follow-up when they suffer from these symptoms. Patients should quickly report symptoms of gastrointestinal bleeding or ulceration, unexplained weight gain, skin rash, chest pain or edema to their physicians.

Clinical trials with Vioxx have shown increased incidence of hypertension in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and patients suffering from osteoarthritis have also shown effects on edema and hypertension comparable to those with NSAIDs. So, it is recommended that Vioxx should be used with care and caution, and patients with fluid retention, heart failure and hypertension should be prescribed the lowest possible dosage. Long term administration of Vioxx may result in renal injury and other renal disorders. Patients with impaired renal function, liver dysfunction, heart failure and those taking diuretics are at an increased risk when they were prescribed these new generation cox-2 drugs. Discontinuation of the drug may lead to recuperation to the pretreatment state. Also, patients with considerable dehydration should take Vioxx with caution. Anemia is infrequently seen in patients taking Vioxx. In clinical trials, it was shown that patients taking Vioxx on a long term should check their hemoglobin or hematocrit if they show any signs of blood loss or anemia. Vioxx does not usually influence platelet counts and also does not slow down platelet aggregation. Of the patients who were administered Vioxx, it was seen that older individuals exhibited greater sensitivity. So, therapy with Vioxx should be started at the lowest suggested dose for the elderly.