Vioxx is being called worlwide by it’s maker, Merck. This is not a “bad batch”, this is the end of the drug unless it can be made safer.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/30/news/fortune500/merck/index.htm?cnn=yes
Wow - and since I was just told yesterday to stop taking the other medication I am on for my arthritis, I will have to give my doctor a call & see what to take now. Good timing - was just running out!
Susan
Pretty shocking. Vioxx is prescribed a lot at work (I work in a hospital pharmacy).
Needless to say, it’s a good day not to be a Merck shareholder - the stock is down 26% at the moment on the NYSE. That’s about $26 billion wiped off the company’s market value.
Anyone care to join in my Merck Misery Party? I only have a few hundred shares, but today is a big ouch for me financially. And believe it or not, I do feel badly for the people who depended on this med for relief, only to find that it had potentially dangerous side effects.
I’m betting that Merck will bounce back once they begin distributing the female Viagra (don’t know it’s name). Although it’s intended as treatment for women with hormonal issues, you just have to believe that it will be used recreationally the way Viagra, Cialis, etc. are being used.
I wonder if all the NSAID meds are gonna run into trouble. I used Bextra for arthritis but went back to Naprosyn, and get the same relief.
There’s gonna be a bundle of aching hips and knees in America tonight.
I had Celebrex and then Bextra, fortunately I did not get put on Vioxx.
Bah. I’ve still got about 60 pills and I’m keeping them until my doctor gives me something else that works just as well. It’s not like I take them every day anyway.
Vioxx worked for me but gave me hives (which the doctor said was pretty common) so I got switched to Celebrex, which worked better, but after my gastric bypass I can’t take any of them, so Tylenol is my only relief now. Good thing I’m in less pain these days, because the options keep getting smaller and smaller.