Formularies shift quickly as Vioxx drops off the market

The Sept. 30 Voluntary Recall of Vioxx (rofecoxib) by Merck is just another in a long list of headline-making news for the industry. The action was based on the results of a three-year, randomized double-blind trial that indicated that after taking Vioxx for 18 months, patients had twice the risk of heart attack compared with a placebo.