Science

New Merck Painkiller As Bad As Vioxx, Says FDA Scientist

David Graham, the FDA scientist who exposed the dangers of Vioxx, a blockbuster Merck painkiller pulled from the market in 2004, says Merck’s latest drug is just as dangerous. A painkiller proposed as a successor to Vioxx may substantially increase the risk of stroke and heart attack and is no more effective for pain relief […]

Arcoxia
David Graham, the FDA scientist who exposed the dangers of Vioxx, a blockbuster Merck painkiller pulled from the market in 2004, says Merck's latest drug is just as dangerous.

A painkiller proposed as a successor to Vioxx may substantially increase the risk of stroke and heart attack and is no more effective for pain relief than other drugs of the same class, a federal drug safety expert said Thursday.

Safety studies done on the proposed drug, Arcoxia, are neither adequate nor reasonable to support its approval, Food and Drug
Administration scientist Dr. David Graham told a panel of agency advisers. Graham has been a leading critic of Vioxx, also known as rofecoxib.

"What you're talking about is a potential public health disaster," Graham said of Arcoxia. "We could have a replay of what we had with rofecoxib."

FDA Scientist Blasts Proposed Pain Drug [Associated Press]