Vioxx, which was also marketed under the titles of Ceoxx and Ceeoxx, was an extremely popular non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug marketed by Merck and Company. Vioxx targeted pain related to acute conditions, as well as more chronic issues such as osteoarthritis. After five years on the market, Merck immediately and voluntarily took Vioxx from the global market as a whole in response to growing concerns regarding the increase risk of heart attack and stroke from taking the drug, especially for long time periods or at high doses. The drug has since been allowed back on the American and Canadian markets, however, nearly two hundred class action lawsuits, as well as ten thousand cases have been filed against the company for failure to warn consumers of the cardiovascular risks posed by the drug.