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Posted on Feb 02, 2005, 2 p.m.
By Bill Freeman
The arthritis drug Vioxx could have caused up to 140,000 cases of serious heart disease in the USA, reported The Guardian (27 January 2005). The newspaper highlighted results from a well-conducted study, which found an increased risk of serious coronary heart disease when Vioxx was compared to other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
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The Guardian (1) reported on how do we stop the Vioxx (rofecoxib) disaster from happening again. The drug was withdrawn in September 2004 after evidence emerged that it could cause heart problems
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The newspaper cited an article published in The Lancet (2), which examined the risk of heart problems linked to rofecoxib and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The study found that people taking rofecoxib had a 34% higher chance of coronary heart disease when compared to people who had used other NSAIDs. The study estimated that 88,000-140,000 excess cases of serious coronary heart disease could have occurred in the USA since the launch of the drug in 1999.
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The newspaper accurately reported the results of this well-conducted case control study, but mentioned only the upper limit of 140,000 heart disease cases that could have been caused by rofecoxib.
Full Story : http://www.nelh.nhs.uk/hth/vioxx.asp
