Summary

This article presents the results of the cardiovascular outcomes Multinational Etoricoxib and Diclofenac Arthritis Long-term (MEDAL) program. The MEDAL program consisted of pooled data from three trials conducted at 1380 sites in 46 countries: the EDGE trial (osteoarthritis, 7111 patients), the EDGE II trial (rheumatoid arthritis, 4,086 patients), and the MEDAL trial (osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, 23,504 patients). The goal of this program was to determine whether cardiovascular event rates were similar in patients treated daily with a COX-2 inhibitor (etoricoxib) compared with those treated with a widely used traditional NSAID (diclofenac).