A 2011 study in The BMJ compared the safety of these pain relievers and found that rofecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor also known as Vioxx, had posed more than double the risk of a heart attack compared ...

Merck immediately said it would appeal the decision. It withdrew the $2.5 billion-a-year drug after it found that the use of Vioxx for more than 18 months doubled the risk of stroke and heart attack.

but it already faces accusations of silencing one of its own experts who had raised safety concerns about Vioxx (see p. 1149). It is also uncertain whether other COX-2 inhibitors on the market ...