Merck Vioxx News and Press Releases

For some, Vioxx risk worth it

By Julie Goodman
jgoodman@clarionledger.com

Mary Jane Hall, 82, of Clinton complains of side effects she experienced while taking the osteoarthritis medication Fosamax. She has used Vioxx.

Graceanne Nevins, who deals with the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis, has tried the slew of medications for her condition as they became available over the last three decades. She can't recall one that didn't come with some risks. "I think there's not a drug on the market that doesn't scare you to death with the side effects if you read all the fine print," she said.

Nevins is one of the tens of millions of arthritis patients who at one time or another used Vioxx, the painkiller Merck & Co. removed from the market last year after a study showed a higher rate of strokes and heart problems in people using the drug. Nevins, along with members of the local medical community, say patients shouldn't ignore the risks, but they shouldn't blow them out of proportion either.

Apparently some with the federal Food and Drug Administration agree. An FDA advisory panel recently voted to recommend that Merck be allowed to resume sales of the Vioxx, which was the 20th best-selling drug in the United States with $1.8 billion in sales.

A federal panel says Merck should be allowed to resume selling the pain drug Vioxx.

Mary Jane Hall, who has osteoarthritis, is a former Vioxx user. There's a tendency to dismiss the side effects and say, "That's not going to happen to me," said Hall, 82, of Clinton. "I think a person taking any type of medication should be concerned with the side effects and know what they are," she said. "If they find something that works, then go for it."

While Nevins has moved on to a stronger drug to treat her arthritis, she said she wouldn't hesitate to go on Vioxx again, in part because she doesn't have a heart condition. "You have to look at the percentage of some of these side effects and how apt you are to get them. You have to judge the good it's doing for your condition and balance it out," she said.

Dr. Ken Hensarling, a Jackson rheumatoid arthritis specialist, agrees. He said about 10 to 15 of his patients would be ready to go back on the drug, and he wouldn't advise against it. Vioxx is a good drug, and while it has risks, so do other anti-inflammatory medications, he said. "It's like a car. Cars kill us, but we get in them and go to the grocery store," he said. "They are very needed drugs and they're being criticized too heavily."

With a heart attack or stroke, cells start dying after tissue has been deprived of blood flow, and Vioxx may cause some increased blood vessel spasms that could exacerbate that damage, Hensarling said.

Studies have suggested similar problems to Vioxx have been found with the other "Cox-2 inhibitors," Celebrex and Bextra — drugs also intended to help people in chronic pain. Patients with a pre-existing heart condition probably should avoid Vioxx, Hensarling said.

Others, however, may want to take Vioxx to spare them severe pain, opting for quality of life — and the ability to function again — over longevity. "You can't leave your job," Hensarling said.

Richard Ogletree, a pharmacist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said he is concerned about Vioxx because of the incidence of patients complaining about swelling in the ankles after taking the drug. It wasn't clear what was causing the swelling, he said, but it was clear patients ran the risk of more internal clotting with the Cox-2 drugs. Decisions to take the drug should be decided on a case-by-case basis with a doctor. "One drug works great for one patient but doesn't work at all for other patients," said Ogletree, who coordinates UMC's Drug Information Center.

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