- Making News: Congress Examines Merck's Vioxx
The Senate Finance Committee heard testimony today on Merck's withdrawal from the market of an anti-cholesterol drug found to cause heart problems. A drug-safety reviewer told the Senators that, if another medication approves unsafe after FDA approval, the public is "virtually defenseless." Barry Meier, who's been covering the Vioxx story for the New York Times, says the drug's risks have been an issue since its initial release. - Reporter's Notebook: Opening of the Clinton Presidential Library
The Clinton Center was formally dedicated today in rainy Little Rock in a modernistic building that juts out over the Arkansas River. Its library boasts 2 million photographs, 76 million pages of paper and 75,000 artifacts, including the former president's saxophones. Former Presidents Bush and Carter attended the ceremony, along with the current President Bush. Curt Smith author of Windows on the White House: the Story of Presidential Libraries, offers a perspective.
Federal Drug Administration (FDA) on Vioxx
Senate Finance Committee hearing on Vioxx
Meier's article about Merck's early findings on Vioxx
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
World Trade Organization (WTO)