Study finds painkiller a heart risk from start

A new study looks set to pile the pressure on pharmaceutical company Merck as it fights to limit the financial damage from the withdrawal of its best-selling painkiller, Vioxx.

Canadian scientists are claiming that using Vioxx immediately increased the risk of heart attacks for elderly patients, undermining a key plank of Merck's defence in a slew of lawsuits from users and their families.

Merck withdrew Vioxx in 2004 after finding that long-term use was associated with heart problems, but its lawyers continue to insist that only patients on the drug for more than 18 months were at risk.

In a paper published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal found that a quarter of heart attacks suffered by Vioxx users occurred within two weeks of them starting taking the drug.

"Our previous study on COX-2 inhibitors, which included Vioxx and Celebrex, evaluated whether there was an increased risk of heart attack while taking these medications; the answer was yes for Vioxx," said Linda Levesque, the lead author of the new study.

The study looked at the health records of 125,000 senior citizens in the Quebec region over a three-year period.

Merck is resisting a US-wide settlement to Vioxx lawsuits, which already number 11,500. It has lost more cases than it has won.

Last month, Merck said it would appeal against a US$7.75 million ($12 million) payout ordered by a court in Texas for the family of a man who had a heart attack after taking Vioxx for less than a month.

- INDEPENDENT