Vioxx, a pain killer, was withdrawn from the market in 2004 after the APPROVe trial showed that it doubled the risk of heart attacks.
In a new study published in The Lancet, researchers contacted 84% of the people who took part in the original trial and confirmed the findings of previous study. They also found that a year after stopping the treatment, participants still had increased risk of heart attack, stroke or death comapred with those in the placebo group. The researchers raised the concern that long term use of of all non-aspirin NSAIDs may have a similar effect and suggested doctors to weigh up the benefits of these drugs in individual patients.
The drugmaker, Merck, issued a statement :"....this post-hoc analysis using limited data from a prematurely terminated study needs to be interpreted very cautiously......".
Source: Baron JA, Sandler RS, Bresalier RS et al. Cardiovascular events associated with rofecoxib: final analysis of the APPROVe trial. The Lancet 2008; Oct 14 [Early online publication]
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