Contributor: M. Sadri, Dept of Engineering Fundamentals
VIOXX is a medication to control the pain of arthritus. Merck, Inc. removed the drug from the market when they discovered that taking the drug could result in cardiovascular problems. Prior to the withdrawal of VIOXX from the market, an FDA employee tried to block the publication of the test results in a scientific journal. In November, 2004, Merck was notified that the Justice Department and by the Securities and Exchange Commission were investigating them. What decisions were made for the production and marketing of VIOXX? How could Merck have averted this problem?