Hello eveyone

A friend of mine who is a vet says the drug company who made Vioxx (Merk?) but withdrew it because of lots of deaths in people are about to launch a similar product in dogs called Prevacox. Does anyone now anything about this knew product - he says its a treatment for arthritis.

Jamie

Would think your friend being a vet is in a better postion than us to find out more info??

Rimadyl was withdrawn from treating humans cos of the same thing, failed safety tests miserably, then got passed on to animals......

I`d ask your vet friend a few more questions if I were you, then let us all know :)

Christine, Spain.

Vioxx(rofecoxib) was manafactured by MSD and withdrawn earlier this year due to the increasesd incidence of heart attacks and strokes in humans. It was shown to elevate blood pressure in some patients ,precipitating increased risk of heart attacks and coronary events. The drug is from a class of pain treating drugs known as cox-2's used predominantly in arthritis treatment for pain management. This drug was usually used on a long term basis for full efficacy. The anatomy and physiology of canines is different from humans therefore it is impossible (without clinical evidence) to say that the drug would have the same effect. The only way to know (compare) would be to take the dogs blood pressure which if raised could be an indicator of increased cardiac risk,however as dogs don't usually have the same risk factors as humans ,it may not have the same outcome . I don't know many vets who routinely take a dogs blood pressure , but in the case of arthritic dogs it would be a case of assessing if the benefits of such a drug outweighed the risks to the dog ......