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Article: US FDA panel approves return of Merck's Vioxx to market
- Article from:
- Xinhua News Agency
- Article date:
- February 19, 2005
CopyrightCopyright 2005 Xinhua News Agency. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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US FDA panel approves return of Merck's Vioxx to market
WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- A US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) advisory panel on Friday approved the safety of the painkiller
Vioxx withdrawn by Merck & Co. Inc. and its return to the market.
However, it concluded that Vioxx and its major rivals Pfizer
Inc.'s Celebrex and Bextra, which are used to ease arthritis pain,
all posed some level of heart risk. The panel voted 17-15 for Vioxx's
comeback.
The vote for Celebrex to stay in market was 31-1, and 17-13 with
two abstentions for Bextra.
The three prescription medicines, all of a family called COX-2
inhibitors, have been in studies linked to increased risk of heart
attack ...