Vioxx recall hearings on Capitol Hill

There is increasing concern among lawmakers that both Merck and FDA may have either suppressed evidence about the safety of Vioxx or not paid enough attention to it. Senator Chuck Grassley, the Republican head of the Senate Finance Committee, says, "Suppression and lack of transparency shouldn't be in government. Scientific research can speak for itself. " It is important to note that he is among the top recipients of drug-industry campaign contributions, like many others in the Republican Party.

David J. Graham, an FDA reviewer who worked with U.S. non-profit health insurer Kaiser Permanente, studied the risks of Vioxx and is one of the witnesses. A subsequent report by Graham linked Vioxx to 27,785 heart attacks and deaths. Graham says that higher agency officials at the FDA discounted his efforts to call attention to the problems with Vioxx.

Dr. Bruce Psaty, co-director of University of Washington's Cardiovascular Research Unit, is another witness and is expected to speak about studies linking the drug to heart attacks years before Vioxx was withdrawn in September.

Merck CEO Gilmartin is also scheduled to testify and as discussed earlier in the Vioxx recall blog, he is likely to stick to the original position of defending Merck's approach to handling the recall.

The New York Times and International Herald Tribune are reporting that Merck & Co. Inc. had results from a study that indicated Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks and stroke almost a year before receiving other information that led to withdrawal of the arthritis drug.