Steven Nissen

Resverlogix Corp. ("Resverlogix" or the "Company") (TSX:RVX) announced that it has begun dosing patients in its US Phase 2 clinical trial lead by Cleveland Clinic. This trial will examine RVX-208, Resverlogix's oral small molecule therapy for the treatment of atherosclerosis, in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). This study is chaired by Dr. Steven Nissen, MD, Chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Department of Cardiovascular...  

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Merck & Co. have told the Supreme Court that investors waited too long to sue over its warnings about the risks of its former blockbuster painkiller Vioxx before it was pulled from the market. Merck wants the high court to throw out an investors' class-action securities lawsuit. They sued because of the tens of billions of dollars in shareholder value lost overnight after Merck pulled Vioxx off the...  

Evidence of cardiovascular risks associated with taking Vioxx, the popular, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (rofecoxib), could have been identified nearly four years before its manufacturer, Merck & Co. Inc., voluntarily pulled the drug from the market, according to new data.  

A federal judge overseeing the Avandia multidistrict litigation has ordered GlaxoSmithKline to produce dozens of documents in a lawsuit over Avandia’s heart side effects. In doing so, the judge rejected Glaxo’s claim that the documents were subject to attorney-client or work product privilege. Avandia’s cardiovascular problems have been the subject of concern since May 2007, [...]  

The Food and Drug Administration still hasn't restructured its staff to better monitor drug safety, more than three years after experts recommended key changes in the wake of the Vioxx scandal. That's according to congressional investigators who found that... Food and Drug Administration - Rofecoxib - Pharmacovigilance - Health - United States  

Vioxx side effects could have been known years earlier Vioxx was a blockbuster drug. Launched by Merck & Co., Inc., in 1999 as a treatment for painful arthritis, its annual sales soon reached $2 billion. The benefits were much the same as other anti-inflammatory painkillers, which sold for a fraction of the cost, but Vioxx (the generic name is rofecoxib) was designed to be less irritating...  

Readers of this blog are, by now, aware of the many issues surrounding Merck’s blockbuster nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory medication Vioxx (rofecoxib) and negative cardiac events. The cardiac problems associated with Vioxx, and its subsequent withdrawal from the market, spawned scores of lawsuits. These include Merck shareholder lawsuits, which were recently the subject of oral [...]  

Merck (MRK) got a rough ride at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday. The justices ridiculing the company’s argument that investors in its stock should have sued the company earlier over its misrepresentations about Vioxx even though they would not have had the evidence for their suits to succeed at that time.  

The risks of taking anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx could have been detected nearly four years before the drug was pulled from the market, according to analysis of nearly 30 clinical trials.The findings, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday, analyzed 30 Vioxx trials involving around 20,000 individuals and fund evidence of the drug's risks from as early as 2000.The Merck-made drug was pulled in 2004 after it was linked with...  

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Heart risks from taking Merck & Co Inc's painkiller Vioxx could have been detected more than three years before the company withdrew the drug from the market in September 2004, had the data been openly available, U.S. researchers said on Monday.  

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. (AP) — Merck & Co. said Monday a district court judge in Texas dismissed all claims in a state Medicaid lawsuit over the painkiller Vioxx.Merck said Travis County, Texas District Court Judge Scott H. Jenkins granted the company's motion for summa....  

AbbottAUSTIN (Legal Newsline)-A Texas judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the state attorney general against drugmaker Merck & Co. over its now-withdrawn painkiller Vioxx.In a 2005 lawsuit, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott had sought a refund on behalf of the state for money spent on the drug. The lawsuit also sought damages and penalties for alleged violations of the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.Travis County Judge Scott...  

More than 30 people say GlaxoSmithKline was wrong in selling a diabetes drug without first warning of potential serious side effects from which they or their deceased relatives suffered. Lead plaintiff Edgar Bennett, along with 30 others, filed suit Nov. 16 in St. Clair County against the drug company and McKesson Corporation.David R. Jones of Edwardsville will be representing them. A different group of lawyers -- John J. Driscoll of St...  

On Monday, Merck & Co., and the investors who filed securities suits against it, had their day in court. Investors in Merck are suing the company over the misrepresentation of the safety of Vioxx (or lack thereof) which allegedly caused...  

Problems with the popular arthritis drug Vioxx, including increased risk for heart attack, stroke and death, were known for years before the drug’s voluntary withdrawal from the market in 2004, a new report says.