Thursday, February 23, 2006

Merck - Vioxx: NEJM - at risk of repeating themselves

The New England Journal of Medicine has issued a second editorial re-affirming its concerns about a key scientific paper relating to Vioxx, the withdrawn arthritis drug from Merck.

A previous editorial caused controversy when it was published during a trial brought by a widow who claimed Vioxx caused her husband's death. See also: Merck's Deleted Data.

The Journal's editors write: "The information we have indicates that the VIGOR article, because it did not contain relevant safety data available to the authors more than four months before publication, did not accurately reflect the potential for serious cardiovascular toxicity with rofecoxib."

The editorial and replies from the paper's authors are available on the New England Journal's website.

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