A new research concluded that substantial cardiovascular dangers linked to the anti-inflammatory medication almost four years before it was taken off the market.

The study is done by Joseph S. Ross, MD, of Mount Sinai school of Medicine, and colleagues and is published in the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The authors of the study were paid consultants to the lawyers of the plaintiff in Vioxx lawsuits. This was where the major part of Merck data was revealed.

Ross tells WebMD, “By our analyses, the association is clear that by June 2001 -- more than three years before the drug was eventually taken off the market -- the risk could have been known.”

Vioxx was taken off from the market after the “APPROVE” study conclusively demonstrated that its users had more heart attacks and strokes than patients receiving a placebo.

Merck said that the study is flawed- during an interview with WebMD. It maintains that the company acted responsibly both in conducting safety studies and in pulling the $2 billion per year drug from the market as soon as it was aware that the drug increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.