May 1999: FDA approves Vioxx.
March 2000: Merck reveals that a new study found Vioxx patients had double the rate of serious cardiovascular problems than those on naproxen, an older nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID.
November 2000: The New England Journal of Medicine publishes the study, called VIGOR.
February 2001: An advisory panel recommends the FDA require a label warning of the possible link to cardiovascular problems.
September 2001: The FDA warns Merck to stop misleading doctors about Vioxx’s effect on the cardiovascular system.
April 2002: The FDA tells Merck to add information about cardiovascular risk to Vioxx’s label.
Aug. 25, 2004: An FDA researcher presents results of a database analysis of 1.4 million patients; it concludes that Vioxx users are more likely to suffer a heart attack or sudden cardiac death than those taking Celebrex or an older NSAID.
Sept. 23, 2004: Merck says it learned this day that patients taking Vioxx in a study were twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke as those on placebo.
Sept. 30, 2004: Merck withdraws Vioxx from the U.S. and the more than 80 other countries in which it was marketed.