Worst Pills, Best Pills

An expert, independent second opinion on more than 1,800 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and supplements

rofecoxib (VIOXX)


DISEASE AND DRUG FAMILY INFORMATION

Search results below include Disease and Drug Family Information where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion.

Salicylates and Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)
The salicylates are used to relieve pain and to reduce fever and inflammation. Aspirin, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), is the most well-known and frequently used salicylate. Other salicylates discussed on this web site are salsalate and choline and magnesium salicylates.
Arthritis and Inflammation
At least 31.6 million Americans suffer from some form of arthritis. The three most common types are rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and gout. Each has a different cause, treatment, and probable outcome.

DRUG AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENT PROFILES

A comprehensive review of the safety and effectiveness of this drug. If the drug is not a Do Not Use product, information on adverse effects, drug interactions and how to use the medication are included.
Search results below include Drug and Dietary Supplement Profiles where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion.

celecoxib (CELEBREX, ELYXYB); meloxicam (MOBIC); rofecoxib (VIOXX); valdecoxib (BEXTRA)
  • We list these drugs as Do Not Use drugs because they are no more effective than related drugs, most have not been shown to have a lower rate of ulcers than related drugs and some have been shown to cause heart disease.

WORST PILLS, BEST PILLS NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion.

Hypertension Drugs Plus NSAIDs May Injure Kidneys
April 2013
Recent evidence points to increased acute kidney injury associated with combining nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) with two antihypertensive drugs: a diuretic plus either an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB). Find out the names of these drugs. This is especially important for patients with hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure or chronic kidney disease, because such patients are routinely treated with diuretics, ACE inhibitors and ARBs.
Hypocrites at Merck -- Not Just in Washington, D.C.
September 2011
Find out how Merck tried, unsuccessfully, to keep from being sued by stockholders who accused the company of withholding information about the risks of Vioxx.
Update on Withdrawals of Dangerous Drugs in the U.S.
January 2011
This article lists 11 of the prescription drugs that we warned Worst Pills, Best Pills News subscribers not to use before they were banned by the FDA. Subscribers knew an average of 3.3 years before the FDA acted that these medications were unsafe to use.
Lithium Toxicity Due to Drug Interactions
January 2010
This article lists a large number of drugs, used to treat high blood pressure and other carediovascular disease, that can interact harmfully with lithium (ESKALITH; LITHOBID; LITHONATE;generic lithium carbonate), drugs used to treat bipolar (manic/depressive) disorder. This may result in a dangerous condition known as lithium toxicity because these drugs stop the body from getting rid of lithium and lithium blood levels are increased; in severe cases, this can cause seizures, coma and even death. The article also lists other symptoms of lithium toxicity.
Update on Drugs that Can Cause High Blood Potassium
December 2008
This article lists 68 drugs that can cause high blood potassium (hyperkalemia) that can result in nausea, fatigue, muscle weakness or tingling sensations, as well as heart abnormalities (showing up as an abnormal electrocardiogram). In some cases it can be fatal. If you are taking any of these drugs, be especially careful if you have diabetes or kidney disease. If so, you are at increased risk, and your doctor will have to weigh the risk of giving you these drugs. Also, the older you are, the more likely you are to develop hyperkalemia. Also, make sure you are receiving appropriate laboratory monitoring.
Blockbuster Arthritis Drug Rofecoxib (VIOXX) Withdrawn From Market
November 2004
Vioxx is the ninth prescription drug to be taken off the market in the past seven years that Worst Pills, Best Pills News readers were previously warned DO NOT USE. The average time between warning readers not to use these drugs and their removal from the market was one year and eight months.
Arthritis Drug Rofecoxib (VIOXX) Linked to Increased Risk of Coronary Heart Disease
December 2002
Investigators from Vanderbilt University in Nashville TN, in a study published in the October 5, 2002 issue of The Lancet, found that patients taking 50 milligrams per day of the arthritis and painkilling drug rofecoxib (VIOXX) for longer than five days are 70 percent more likely to develop coronary heart disease (CHD) than nonusers of the drug.
Drug Induced Psychiatric Symptoms
October 2002
This is the first of a two part series on drug induced psychiatric symptoms that is based on the July 8, 2002 issue of The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics. Regular readers of Worst Pills, Best Pills News will recognize The Medical Letter as a reference source written for physicians and pharmacists that we often use because of its reputation as an objective and independent source of drug information. The article lists the drugs and their psychiatric adverse effects.
Merck’s Promotion Of Its Arthritis Drug Rofecoxib (VIOXX) Crosses Legal Lines And Poses Public Danger
November 2001
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on September 17, 2001 made public a Warning Letter it had issued to Merck & Co. about a false and misleading promotional campaign that the pharmaceutical giant had been conducting on behalf of its blockbuster arthritis drug rofecoxib (VIOXX).The FDA said, "Specifically, your promotional campaign discounts the fact that in the VIGOR study, patients on Vioxx were observed to have a four to five fold increase in myocardial infarctions (MIs) compared to patients on the comparator nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), Naprosyn (naproxen)."
COX-2 Inhibitors Vioxx and Celebrex: Keep Staying Away--It Gets Worse
March 2001
 In light of the above discussion, we continue to advise the patient-protective five-year-rule for these drugs, as we do for all other new drugs that are not breakthroughs. Do Not Use.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC CITIZEN

Search results below include Additional Information from Public Citizen where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion.

Painkillers and Terrorism. Letter to the Editor of the New York Times on Cox 2 Painkillers (HRG Publication #1727)
Painkillers and Terrorism. Letter to the Editor of the New York Times on Cox 2 Painkillers (HRG Publication #1727)
Testimony to FDA on Dangers of Cox-2 Drugs (HRG Publication #1725)
Testimony of Sidney M. Wolfe, M.D. Director, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group (HRG) Before FDA Arthritis and Drug Safety Advisory Committees Concerning the Dangers of COX-2 Drugs
Petition to remove the Cox-2 Inhibitors Celecoxcib (CELEBREX) and Valdecoxcib (BEXTRA) From the Market (HRG Publication #1720)
Petition to remove the Cox-2 Inhibitors Celecoxcib (CELEBREX) and Valdecoxcib (BEXTRA) From the Market (HRG Publication #1720)
Vioxx, Other “Super Aspirins” Are Super Disasters – Other Cox-2 Alternatives Have Safety Problems Too (HRG Publication #1707)
Today’s announcement by Merck is the latest evidence that this family of drugs, the Cox-2 inhibitors, once referred to as “super aspirins,” are turning out to be more like super disasters.
Testimony before the FDA Arthritis Drugs Advisory Committee on the Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Celecoxib and Rofecoxib (HRG Publication #1555)
A second box warning about cardiovascular toxicity needs to be added. It should warn of the lack of platelet aggregation inhibition of the drugs which protects those at risk from an increased occurrence of heart attacks. In addition, the evidence which is rapidly accumulating about the heart damage caused by these drugs must be mentioned in this cardiovascular box warning.