Readers'
responses to Sunday Times Vioxx investigation
include new horror stories
This material is
from a 2005 investigation by Brian Deer for The Sunday Times of London
into the painkiller Vioxx | Go
to Vioxx index
In the days
following publication of the reports, on August
21 2005, many readers contacted Brian Deer with
further experiences and insights concerning
Merck's withdrawn painkiller. This is a
selection, revealing new death and suffering
alleged to be linked to the drug
VIOXX:
21 August 2005
Dear Mr
Deer,
I read your
article on Vioxx with great interest.
I had been
on the drug for about a year and stopped taking
it as soon as it was taken off the market.
However, a few weeks later I suffered a partial
occlusion of my right eye which, I gather, is
basically a stroke of the eye. This has now left
me with less than 50% sight out of this eye and
whilst I know it's not as serious as most of the
other cases possibly linked to Vioxx, it is still
a huge nuisance.
A GP friend
of mine has hinted that it could have been a
result of Vioxx. I am 48 and have raised blood
pressure which is kept under control by
medication. Straight away after the attack I had
a full medical to see if there were any
underlying problems relating to my heart, blood,
arteries, etc. Everything was fine.
Where I hope
you might be able to help is by giving me a
contact for any of the groups in this country
that are considering action.
Many thanks
and regards,
Phillip
H
VIOXX:
21 August 2005
Hello.
My name is
Susan D.... and i was prescribed the drug Vioxx
for my Rheumatoid Arthritus. The dosage being one
25mg tablet every morning untill the drug was
withdrawn. I was on this drug for nearly a year.
Sometime in the middle of that year i started
developing chest problems and extremely high
blood pressure levels. (Diastolic at 100mmhg)
My doctor
then prescribed tablets to reduce this high
level, which i still have to take today to keep
the level under control. At one point i was
rushed into hospital with a suspected blood clot
on the lungs. I was placed in the Clinical
Descissions Unit of the Glenfield Hospital in
Leicester. It turned out to be an embolism on the
chest.
Vioxx
started to give me severe chest pains to the
point where i thought i was having a heart
attack. Since coming off the drug when it was
widthdrawn i still have heart palpatations when
under any stress. My blood pressure has to be
controlled with tablets. During the time i was
with Vioxx, i happened to buy my own blood
pressure monitor to try and understand why my
heart felt like it was trying to burst.
Is there
any-way that i can take the manufacturer to court
along with any other patients who have contacted
you regarding this matter.Please either email me
on the above email address or telephone me on
.......to see if you can help me.
Thank you.
Susan
D
VIOXX:
21 August 2005
Dear Brian
I did not
care for how you handled the Dr Wakefield 'story'
(his and his team's findings have subsequently
been replicated; their study was not in itself
flawed or fraudulent, contrary to the impression
given by many commentators), but I want to give
credit where credit is due: well done for the
report on Vioxx in today's Sunday Times. It was
fairly presented, very informative, and socially
of the utmost importance.
I never
thought I would be saying this to you, but: keep
up the investigative bent you are on. The public
needs journalism like yours, to be kept aware of
important issues - and to keep 'professionals' on
their toes, with public review of their work.
Such as the CSM, whose job it is to be a true
watchdog, not needing a watchdog to keep tabs on
it.
May we all
continue to learn lessons from such scrutiny as
investigative journalism can provide us.
Regards
Stan
S
VIOXX:
21 Aug 2005
Hi
My husband
took Vioxx, and stopped taking it last september,
whilst taking it he became verbally, phisically,
and mentally abusive, and, nothing has changed
since he stopped in some respects he is worse.
He is
confused, tongue tied, unable to spell, we are
wondering now, if he could have had a stroke?
I went to
the Doctors because of how he was acting, and was
told he is pain, more or less that I should have
more patience.
Would like
to know if you have heard of any one else with
the same symptoms.
Regards
Joan
S
VIOXX:
21 August 2005
Dear Mr
Deer,
After
reading your piece in the Sunday Times today I
have become concerned due to the fact that my
Mother suffered a fatal, and most unexpected,
heart-attack while taking vioxx in 2004. I was
devestated due to the fact that it was so
unexpected, no warning signs or any indication
previously of heart trouble. And she was an
active woman who had just turned 60.
I am however
unsure of what to do now? and was wondering if
you could point me in the direction of any
organisation or group that may be of help with
looking into the case?
Yours
Faithfully,
James
S
VIOXX:
21 August 2005
i am female
and 58. approx. 3 years ago i was put on vioxx
and in march last year suddenly lost feeling in
my feet with swelling in wrist and hands. for the
next 4 months i was put on max. dosage of vioxx
(50mg) but the symptoms got worse. i was referred
to a consultant who i saw in july. my blood
pressure at the initial consultation was 220/106
and the nurse said i should see my gp. the
surgery nurse checked my bloodpressure again with
similar results. she insisted i stay and see the
emergency doctor. who immediately prescribed
bloodpressure medication. in the following year
the consultant switched medication to
hydrocworoquine sulphate which prompted a severe
reaction with chest pains. i am now on lodine. i
never regained normal feeling in my feet since
march 2004. i had taken oroval previously and
developed stomach problems by the time i switched
to vioxx i was taking 30mg zotan a day.
how can i
find out if vioxx caused my problems and is there
an english action group i could contact.
regards
Barbara
S
VIOXX:
22 August 2005
Dear Brian,
I read your
article with interest since I work in the Pharma
Industry.
Those who
really understand modern pharmaceutical
development pre and post marketing talk in terms
of benefit: risk ratios not just about drug
safety.
I trust that
for the sake of balance, in next weeks edition,
you will feature some of the many GP prescribers
or those of the 400,000 patients who derived
therapeutic benefit from Vioxx.
Regards from
a hopeful reader
Paul
J
VIOXX:
22 August 2005
dear brian
--- powerful stuff ! --- yours desmond
VIOXX:
23 August 2005
Daer Brian,
I have been
following the events regarding the problems with
Vioxx with great interest - let me explain. I was
until 3 years ago an specialist nurse in acute
pain management and was part of a five person
team (two consultant anaesthetists, two nursing
sisters and one part time pharmacist) in a large
teaching hospital in the North West. I retired
from this post due to developing rheumatoid
arthritis, so you can see I have double the
reason to be interested in new analgesia and its
supposed lack of side effects.
When I was
employed as a Specialist Acute Pain Nurse, the
representative from Merck conducted a concerted,
one might even say aggressive, marketing campaign
in order to persuade those working in the acute
pain sector to consider the use of Vioxx as an
alternative to NSAIDs in managing post operative
and post traumatic pain. The drug had apparently
had some success in being utilised in the
mangement of chronic pain and this was Merck's
attempt to expand its use in hospital settings.
As part of
the research into effective analgesia (by no
means totally achieved even today - see the
report from Working Party on the Management of
Acute Pain - the Royal College of Surgeons and
the College of Anaesthetists 1990 and subsequent
Audit Commission reports) as a team we were very
keen to find safer, more effective analgesia and
there was some optimism and excitement as to this
new class of drug - Cox 2 inhibitors (celecoxhib
or "Cerebrex" was the other).
My main
point is this: you state in your Sunday Times
article that doctors were encouraged by
promotional material to send away for a free
clock - this was small change in Merck's
marketing ploys. As a team, we were all invited
to an all expenses paid trip (by air) to St.
Andrews in Scotland, where we were to enjoy the
hospitality of Merck in a luxury hotel while the
benefits of Vioxx were to be presented. The
representative was more than persistent, he was
almost a nuisance caller at the department. At
first some of use were quite excited that such a
shindig could be ours for the asking, however, on
reflection two of us (one consultant aneasthetist
and me) decided that the ethical situation was
suspect and that we could obtain all the
information we required from the drug company
without compromise; we declined the offer. Two
other members of the team, however, did take up
this offer and spent a weekend, admittedly in
thier own time, enjoying the weekend along with
others being similarly feted by Merck from across
the region.
To my
knowledge there was no subsequent specific
ordering of Vioxx by the Acute Pain Team or any
other speciality within the Trust, but I have no
way of being certain of this.
I am of the
opinion that such aggressive marketing is at best
suspect, a possible source of corruption and
invasive of NHS professionals' time and at worst
amounts to bribery and false representation of
the total drug effects. We are well used to drug
companies marketing their products, sometimes
aggessively, but this stands out as a time when
the approach exceeded anything within my personal
knowledge or experience.
I doubt that
my comments add much to your investigation, but I
thought you might ber interested about the
marketing as it made me reflect, once the side
effects were publicised, that there might have
been a cynical reason behind their methods.
I am, of
course, happy to discuss this further and I wish
you well in yout future investigations.
Irene
M
CELEBREX:
23 August 2005
With
reference to your article in the Sunday Times
August I was prescribed Celebrex in December 2003
for arthritic pain. After five days I had a major
fit leading to emergency admission to hospital
for 48 hours. My GP immediately took me off this
drug and further investigations gave no
indications of what could benefit me in the short
term.
At that time
the waiting list for hip surgery was about nine
months, so I opted for private treatment which
took place in late March 2004. There was some
concern about my recovery immediately after the
operation, but otherwise I made a normal
recovery.
Regarding
the earlier fit I saw a neurologist in April who
advised notifying the DVLA and this was done.
Life went on as normal for myself and my blind
husband and we were travelling to Norfolk at the
end of July when I had a further fit losing
consciousness completely, rolling over our car
and we both spent 11 days in hospital. A letter
from the DVLA waiting when we got home gave us
the all clear for me to drive but, on the advice
of the police, I surrendered my license and have
not driven since.
The episode
made me wary of drugs but in October, having
taken further advice, I began to take Epilin. I
have had two further night time fits at intervals
of several months, and as a result have made a
slight increase to the strength of Epilin I am
taking.
I am giving
you this detail in case there is any activity
taking place in regard to Celebrex since I am
aware that it is also a coxib drug in the same
"family" as vioxx.
Anne
C
VIOXX:
24 August 2005
I did'nt die
from Vioxx, but I woke up on a trolley in the
A&E at Barnet General Hospital on 3rd April
2001 having had convulsions during the night from
which my wife could not wake me.
I had
damaged my knee whilst windsurfing, and it was
still swollen and painful following an
arthroscopy. My GP prescribed Vioxx, and I had
been on 10mg Vioxx tablets for a couple of weeks,
and started on 25mg the previous day, 2nd April
2001.
The DVLA
withdrew my driving licence for 12 months,
stating that "Vioxx is not known to have a
recognised epileptogenic potential", and
Merck were no help.
Do I have
any cause for redress at this stage?
Sincerely,
Stanley
R
VIOXX:
24 August 2005
Dear Brian
Thank you
for your very interesting article on the above in
last Sunday's "The Sunday Times". Of
particular interest to me was the paragraph
beginning "No less disturbing were the
reports of fatal gut damage, the problem Vioxx
was intended to solve
.........................".
All the hype
so far has been about heart attack and stroke
victims. My step-father who, apart from his
arthritis, was in good health started to develop
ulcer problems after he had started taking Vioxx
and subsequently died of a perforated gastric
ulcer.
I believe
that there is a strong connection between Vioxx
and his death. I am battling to find a solicitor
who will take up his case. Those that I have
contacted so far are only interested in heart
attack and stroke cases.
I hope that
you and other papers will continue to bring out
the issues with Vioxx and gut problems. There
must be many people out there who suffered like
my step-father did. I will continue in my search
for a solicitor who will take up this case. If
you become aware of any, please let me know!
Again, well
done.
Yours
sincerely
Shaun
L
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