A too-limited view of Vioxx
YOUR MAY 14 editorial "Side effects in the Senate" raises a good point about the need to study drugs after they go on the market. However, you erred in stating that Vioxx was designed for a "fairly limited population," namely "patients with chronic pain who suffer stomach problems when taking other painkillers."
In fact, while one of the advantages of Vioxx was a lower rate of serious stomach bleeds than competing medicines, Vioxx was designed, studied, and approved as a first-line medication for the pain and inflammation of osteoarthritis, acute pain, and dysmenorrhea.
And Vioxx was subsequently studied and approved as a first-line medication for sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis, migraines, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
JAMES C. FITZPATRICK
New York
The writer is outside counsel for 