Panel: Vioxx Successor Should Not Be Approved
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
A painkiller proposed as a successor to Vioxx should not be approved, a panel of federal health advisers overwhelmingly recommended yesterday. The nonbinding 20-1 vote was on the prescription drug Arcoxia, made by New Jersey-based Merck & Co., Inc.
A Food and Drug Administration drug safety expert had told the panel the drug may increase substantially the risk of stroke and heart attack and is no more effective for pain relief than other medicines in the same class.
