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Merck's withdrawn painkiller.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withdrawn.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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