Studies Find Additional Vioxx Risks, Raise Concerns about Arcoxia

CHICAGO - Merck & Co. Inc.'s withdrawn arthritis drug Vioxx may pose unique risks that similar painkillers, including the still-available Celebrex, do not share, according to two recent review studies of the safety of Vioxx and other NSAIDs.

The research also found that an older anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac, carries as high a risk of heart attack or stroke as Vioxx at low doses - a finding that indirectly raises concerns about Merck's potential Vioxx successor drug, Arcoxia.

The Journal of the American Medical Association published the studies and an accompanying editorial early in its Sept. 12 online edition because of …