Vioxx - Claims for Heart Attack & Stroke
VIOXX WITHDRAWN FROM THE MARKET AFTER HAVING BEEN FOUND TO CAUSE HEART ATTACKS AND STROKES
 |
** SETTLEMENT: Historic $ 4.85 Billion Settlement Reached In Vioxx Litigation. Ashcraft And Gerel Partners Chris Tisi And Michelle Parfitt Play Leading Role In Litigation And On The National Plaintiff's Steering Committee That Negotiated The Settlement.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE |
|
** On August 19, 2005 the first jury to decide a Vioxx lawsuit handed down a verdict of $253.4 Million against Merck & Co. $229 Million of the verdict in the lawsuit was for punitive damages. |
|
** ANNOUNCEMENT: Chris Tisi of Ashcraft & Gerel is named by U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon to the national Vioxx litigation plaintiff's steering committee. The committee consists of only 13 members nationally. A position on the plaintiffs' steering committee is in great demand, because the members of this committee deal with issues affecting the outcome of all of the cases, such as gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, selecting experts and developing strategy on a national basis. They also meet with the judge and Merck's lawyers regularly. |
[Introduction: Although our offices are located in Maryland (MD), Virginia (VA) and Washington, D.C. (DC), our drug and pharmaceutical practice is national in scope, and our lawyers are handling many drug lawsuits around the country. Therefore, regardless of what state you're in, please complete our inquiry form on this web site or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it so that we can have an attorney from our drug litigation department contact you about your potential lawsuit.]
Vioxx (rofecoxib) was a highly prescribed painkiller until it was withdrawn from the market on September 30, 2004. Introduced in May of 1999, Vioxx was heavily promoted on television and radio by its manufacturer, Merck & Co. Merck claimed that Vioxx was safer on the stomach than commonly used painkillers like aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medications such as ibuprophen and naproxen. According to Merck, approximately 84 million people have been prescribed this drug between 1999 and 2004.
From the beginning, it was reported that Vioxx was associated with a serious risk of cardiovascular conditions like heart attack (myocardial infarction) and stroke. Indeed, in early clinical trials conducted by Merck it was revealed that patients treated with Vioxx suffered more acute myocardial infarctions (the medical term for heart attacks) than patients placed on the commonly used drug, naproxen. There is evidence that when Merck was first confronted with the non-reassuring data concerning a possible higher incidence of heart attacks and strokes, it made a deliberate decision, as early as May, 2000, not to conduct a direct study of the risk, and part of its reason for not doing so was the negative impression it would give the public. You can read about Merck's decision in this New York Times article. Merck's early clinical trial results were not made public until 2001. They led to a warning letter from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to the chief executive officer of Merck about misrepresentations over safety in the promotion of Vioxx and calls for Merck to withdraw Vioxx from the market. The company refused to recall Vioxx, contending that its own study results were misleading. Merck's response was to claim that its study results showing Vioxx users to have a dramatically higher incidence of heart attacks than naproxen users were because naproxen had extra or additional heart protection benefits than normal. The FDA letter in 2001 chastised Merck for the absence of scientific evidence to support that claim and for a misleading press release titled "Merck Confirms Favorable Cardiovascular Safety Profile of Vioxx." The FDA letter noted that Merck was refusing to acknowledge that Vioxx might have increased pro-thrombotic properties (or properties that cause blood clots, leading to heart attacks). Needless to say, along with Merck's refusal to recall Vioxx in 2001, came continued corporate profits from sales of Vioxx, which reached $2.5 billion in 2003.
In its September 30, 2004 recall announcement, Merck finally admitted that Vioxx created a substantial risk for cardiovascular disease and injuries. Specifically, it announced that a recent study was abruptly halted because people taking a low dose of Vioxx, 25 milligrams, for more than 18 months, were twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke than people taking a sugar pill or placebo. Merck’s studies may be conservative in their assessment of the risk of serious injury and damage. The halted study involved only people without known cardiovascular disease, suggesting that the risk could be even greater among patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease, who would be more susceptible to adverse cardiovascular complications. It has also been noted that the effect of Vioxx is to inhibit the production of an enzyme (COX-2) that serves to dilate the arteries and suppress platelet aggregation. It is suggested that Vioxx could, therefore, contribute to platelet aggregation in more constricted arteries and, therefore, increase the risk of thrombus formation. A recent study led by investigators at the Food and Drug Administration projects that Vioxx may have led to more than 27,000 heart attacks and sudden deaths. It is anticipated that a large number of lawsuits will be filed across the country, and this has already begun.
If you think you or a loved one may have suffered an injury or damages as a result of taking Vioxx, you owe it to yourself to speak to an experienced drug or pharmaceutical attorney to see if you have a case and to discuss the possibility of bringing a lawsuit to recover for your damages and injuries. The attorney will be able to ascertain if you have a claim for which a lawsuit can be pursued and whether the case and lawsuit can be brought to a successful settlement, verdict, award or other recovery, and the experienced lawyer will be able to advise you on any deadlines for bringing your legal claim for damages. Please contact the law firm of Ashcraft and Gerel, LLP to discuss your case with an experienced drug or pharmaceutical lawyer in our Drug Litigation Department.
Many attorneys and law firms are now, for the first time, learning about Vioxx cases and becoming involved in Vioxx lawsuits, but Ashcraft & Gerel's lawyers are among the few lawyers in the country who have been actively pursuing legal cases for Vioxx related injury before the drug was recalled from the market, and our attorneys are well situated to see your Vioxx lawsuit to a successful verdict or settlement.
The lawyers at Ashcraft and Gerel, LLP have been leaders in pursuing lawsuits involving unsafe drugs. Our attorneys have successfully brought about verdicts, settlements, awards or other recoveries in lawsuits on behalf of clients who have been injured by Fen-Phen, Rezulin, Propulsid, Phenylpropanolamine (PPA), Baycol, breast implants and AIDS tainted blood.
We have a toll free number to reach an attorney to answer your questions with regard to your specific case. That number is 1-800-829-7037. Please ask to speak to Robert Samet, and he will place you in touch with one of our drug litigation lawyers. If you would prefer, please feel free to e-mail us or complete the help inquiry form on this web site. Please be sure to include your name, address, telephone number (if you wish to be called), email address and the exact nature of your question, so that our lawyer can provide you with the specific information you seek.
