Vioxx Side Effects

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I had a training client that was prone to back spasm's and would take vioxx when a spasm would flare up. I thought I would take a look into this drug and see what vioxx side effects my client could possibly expect. Here is what I came up with.

Vioxx has the dubious distinction of 1st place in the FDA's 'top suspects' list, as having the most spontaneous side effects reported. Vioxx was developed as a simple NSAID that would have less potential for gastrointestinal side effects compared to aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.

Vioxx approved medical usage include being used as a Cyclo-oxygenase II (COX-2) inhibitor, anti-inflammatory and analgesic for osteoarthritis, and relief for severe menstrual cramps. While those are the benefits the voixx side effects include serious cardiovascular thromboembolic side effects (such as heart attacks, angina pectoris, and peripheral vascular events) and blood clots.

Because of the growing list of complaints and discoveries of vioxx side effects there has been an increase in the amount of lawsuits brought toward Merck. For further vioxx lawsuit Information or vioxx litigation.

6,994 adverse event vioxx side effects reports were filed concerning this medication. In a trial of more than 8,000 patients comparing vioxx with naproxen, the rate of severe upper gastrointestinal bleeding was lower for vioxx but the rate of myocardial infarct was higher.

The incidence of myocardial infarction was lower among patients in the naproxen group than among those in the vioxx group (0.1 percent vs. 0.4 percent). The mechanism is not clear, but being obtained in a double blind prospective clinical trial, this result carries a great deal of weight.

FDA recommends label changes for Vioxx on Feb. 8, 2001, to add some warnings about vioxx side effects and recommendations against using vioxx in obvious cases of ischemic heart disease, and against using the 50 mg dose chronically.

There are also stomach, liver, and kidney side effects associated with vioxx, some of which may be traced to the thrombotic embolism problem.

Voixx Update Thursday October 28, 2004: Merck announced results of clinical trials indicating a reduction in serious, confirmed upper gastrointestinal side effects for vioxx compared to four widely used NSAIDs. This was the original rationale for develop this COX-2 inhibitor.

Read about the latest vioxx trial