ScholarLens Back to search
2004•Journal of Managed Care PharmacyOpen access

Market Withdrawal of Vioxx: Is it Time to Retihink the Use of COX-2 Inhibitors?

Eduardo Ortiz

Open full text 27 citations

Abstract

On September 30, 2004, Merck and Co. Inc., the manufacturer of the arthritis drug rofecoxib (Vioxx), announced the worldwide voluntary market withdrawal of rofecoxib after a study confirmed long-standing concerns that use of the drug raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.1 The drug was aggressively marketed after receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 1999 and has resulted in more than 84 million prescriptions worldwide. More than 2 million people were taking Vioxx at the time of the recall, making this the largest voluntary drug recall in history. The recall has substantial financial implications as well. Vioxx brought in more than $2.5 billion annually for Merck and was responsible for approximately 10% of its worldwide sales.

Open-access reader

About this research paper

What this paper is about

On September 30, 2004, Merck and Co. Inc., the manufacturer of the arthritis drug rofecoxib (Vioxx), announced the worldwide voluntary market withdrawal of rofecoxib after a study confirmed long-standing concerns that use of the drug raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.1 The drug was aggressively marketed after receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 1999 and has resulted in more than 84 million prescriptions worldwide. More than 2 million people were taking Vioxx at the time of the recall, making this the largest voluntary drug recall in history. The recall has substantial financial implications as well. Vioxx brought in more than $2.5 billion annually for Merck and was responsible for approximately 10% of its worldwide sales.

Why it matters

OpenAlex reports 27 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

Key contribution

A contribution statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.

Method / approach

Method details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Main findings

Findings are not separately available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Limitations

Limitations are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Applications

Application details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Available abstract

On September 30, 2004, Merck and Co. Inc., the manufacturer of the arthritis drug rofecoxib (Vioxx), announced the worldwide voluntary market withdrawal of rofecoxib after a study confirmed long-standing concerns that use of the drug raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.1 The drug was aggressively marketed after receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 1999 and has resulted in more than 84 million prescriptions worldwide. More than 2 million people were taking Vioxx at the time of the recall, making this the largest voluntary drug recall in history. The recall has substantial financial implications as well. Vioxx brought in more than $2.5 billion annually for Merck and was responsible for approximately 10% of its worldwide sales.

Key concepts: Medicine

Related papers

Related paper 1Related paper 2Related paper 3
Back to paper searchBrowse research topicsOriginal source
Market Withdrawal of Vioxx: Is it Time to Retihink the Use of COX-2 Inhibitors? — Research Paper | ScholarLens