Vioxx is a medicine used for pain relief and is being studied for its skill to avoid cancer and prevent the growth of new blood vessels and hard tumors. It belongs of the family of drugs called: no steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAID); Vioxx is also known as rofecoxib.
This drug was pulled off the drugstores on September 2004 after a clinical study demonstrated that it increases the danger of suffering heart attacks and strokes; that the medicine can induce grave and enduring injuries and inclusive the death. Approximately two million people use rofecoxib. Problems start almost one and a half year after you take the medicine. The study also showed that Vioxx can present and raise the risk of blood clots and other cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack, chest ache related to some heart illness stroke and also death. The study also showed that people who use this drug are expected to present more heart complications than people who use other control drugs. All the NSAID medications have some risks like gastrointestinal hemorrhage, liver and kidney toxicity when taken constantly.
In August of this year, a panel of judges awarded $253.4 millions in compensation to a person who died of arrhythmia (unbalanced heartbeat), after using Vioxx for approximately 18 months. The medicine is produced by Merck laboratories. If you or a loved have taken this drug and had some kind of heart complication due to its use, contact to your attorney because you can qualify for compensation in a probable lawsuit against Vioxx.