The Ministry of Public Health and Assistance (SESPAS) ordered the recall of 17 medications that are available in local pharmacies and that contain Rofecoxib (better known as Vioxx). These medications are usually prescribed for muscular or arthritic pain, but the ingredient rofecoxib has been linked to cerebral and vascular problems. The head of the pharmacy and drug department at SESPAS, Sandra Fermin, told reporters from El Caribe, that it was Merck Laboratories that sent the initial communication to the Ministry of Public Health. Merck told SESPAS that the secondary issues were incompatible with the benefits the patients received. Merck also said that it was closing all clinical studies involving the use of this ingredient. As a result of this information, El Caribe offers a complete list of the medicines on the local market that contain rofecoxib: Coxx, Deflamazon (in all its forms), Diex-25 Bussie, Diez 50 Bussie, Dol (not in its different forms), Fracoxib, INPA, Okacox (in different presentations), Roflash, Rorenax, Unicalm, Vioxx, Rofecoxib, Rofelac, Rofecixib-M and Rodesic.