RangelMD.com (Merck Pulls Vioxx from Market)

RangelMD.com: "But then the pharma companies began aggressively marketing these drugs with the perception being that they were more effective painkillers than the much cheaper over-the-counter NSAIDs. The marketing worked (we've all seen the ads on TV) and each of these medications became multibillion dollar sellers. When I started practicing medicine in 2001 I saw the change. Every arthritis patient was on either Celebrex or Vioxx despite the fact that few of these patients had pre-existing gastric disease or were at increased risk for gastric disease."