Comments on: COX-2 inhibitor plus radiation http://psa-rising.com/blog/index.php/2006/06/23/cox-2-inhibitors-plus-radiation/ Cancer and public health Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:53:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on COX-2 inhibitor plus radiation by: admin http://psa-rising.com/blog/index.php/2006/06/23/cox-2-inhibitors-plus-radiation/#comment-408 Sat, 24 Jun 2006 17:03:18 +0000 http://psa-rising.com/blog/index.php/2006/06/23/cox-2-inhibitors-plus-radiation/#comment-408 Merck, the manufacturer of Vioxx, has denied in court that its drug can cause cardiovascular harm in any short period of time. This has since been to be false. See: Vioxx Heart Risks Began Earlier than Thought by Snigdha Prakash May 18, 2006 · New data obtained by NPR show that patients who took Vioxx even for short periods were at higher risk of heart problems and strokes. An estimated 20 million Americans took the painkiller before Merck & Co. stopped selling it in 2004. In a confidential report to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week, Merck gave new details about a large Vioxx study known by the acronym APPROVe. Results from this study led Merck to pull Vioxx from the market in 2004, and were later published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The new report details more heart problems. Several of the new events occurred in Vioxx patients soon after they started taking the drug. Clinical trial expert Curt Furberg of Wake Forest University reviewed the new report for NPR. He says it shows short-term users of Vioxx were at greater risk of heart problems than previously described in the NEJM paper. The data in that paper indicated "it takes about 18 months to see an increase in risk," said Furberg. "With the new information, the risk appears to be present from the beginning, and it increases gradually over time." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5413812 Merck, the manufacturer of Vioxx, has denied in court that its drug can cause cardiovascular harm in any short period of time. This has since been to be false. See:

Vioxx Heart Risks Began Earlier than Thought
by Snigdha Prakash
May 18, 2006 · New data obtained by NPR show that patients who took Vioxx even for short periods were at higher risk of heart problems and strokes. An estimated 20 million Americans took the painkiller before Merck & Co. stopped selling it in 2004.

In a confidential report to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week, Merck gave new details about a large Vioxx study known by the acronym APPROVe. Results from this study led Merck to pull Vioxx from the market in 2004, and were later published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

The new report details more heart problems. Several of the new events occurred in Vioxx patients soon after they started taking the drug.

Clinical trial expert Curt Furberg of Wake Forest University reviewed the new report for NPR. He says it shows short-term users of Vioxx were at greater risk of heart problems than previously described in the NEJM paper.

The data in that paper indicated “it takes about 18 months to see an increase in risk,” said Furberg. “With the new information, the risk appears to be present from the beginning, and it increases gradually over time.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5413812

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