Looking Back: Bayer and Company ... The Way of Vioxx?

A recent book authored by Diarmuid Jeffreys' "Aspirin: The Story of a Wonder Drug" takes a look at what may be a too-sensitive consumer marketplace that could have even aspirin in question. Jeffreys' writes:

" ...imagine that this wonder drug had been introduced today. Would it have been approved? No doubt early testing would have shown the anti-coagulant properties. But instead of seeing this as a benefit (aspirin and related compounds are used to treat heart attacks today) it would likely have been seen as a fatal flaw preventing widespread use – in today’s risk averse climate, you can’t have people getting anticoagulants over the counter, and the idea that a drug with such a side effect might be used very widely would send shivers down the spine of the regulators. Even worse, imagine the discovery a few years after approval that aspirin does increase risks of bleeding. It would have gone the way of Vioxx, a much more specific cox inhibitor than its ancestor...."

As remarked by Diarmuid Jeffreys in his book Aspirin: The Story of a Wonder Drug.