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Vioxx
Jury Awards $253 Million in first wrongful death Vioxx case against Merck
On Aug. 19, 2005, in the first verdict of a Vioxx-related personal injury lawsuit, a Texas jury found Merck liable for the 2001 death of a man who had taken the medication and awarded $253.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages to his widow. After deliberating for two days, the jury of seven men and five women said that Mr. Ernst's widow Carol had suffered mental anguish and economic losses and that Merck had acted recklessly in selling Vioxx despite knowing that it was highly risky.
The jury's decision also illustrates the legal dangers that drug makers face when they aggressively advertise their medicines to consumers, a practice that has spread widely in the late 1990s.
More than 20 million people had taken Vioxx before the company pulled the drug from the market last September after a clinical trial indicated that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks or strokes in patients taking it for longer than 18 months.
But critics had been saying for years that the drug posed safety risks. And during the trial documents and e-mails from Merck scientists showed them discussing Vioxx's potential heart risks as early as 1997, more than two years before the company began selling the drug.
As reported in the New York Times, August 19, 2005.
On September 30th Merck & Co., Inc., voluntarily withdrew VIOXX from the market
On September 30th, 2004, Merck & Co., Inc., the makers of the arthritis and acute pain medication VIOXX, voluntarily withdrew the drug from the worldwide market. The decision was made after a three year study found an increased risk for confirmed cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke after 18 months of treatment. If you or a loved one have taken VIOXX and have suffered a cardiovascular event such as heart attack or stroke, please contact us immediately to discuss your options.
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Vioxx Information
Vioxx is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) intended primarily to treat the symptoms of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, acute short-term pain, and severe menstrual cramps. It is available in both liquid and pill form. It was a widely used prescription medicine produced by drug manufacturing giant, Merck & Co.
Classified as a Cox-2 inhibitor drug and as an NSAID, Vioxx blocks Cox-2 enzymes that cause the inflammation and pain associated with these conditions, primarily arthritis. On September 30, 2004, the makers of Vioxx, Merck & Co Inc., voluntarily recalled Vioxx after information from a long-term study linked the drug to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not mandate the Vioxx recall, it did issue a public health advisory encouraging Vioxx users to cease using the drug immediately and to speak to their physicians about alternative medications.
The company's decision was based on three-year data from a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, the APPROVe (Adenomatous Polyp Prevention on VIOXX) trial. The APPROVe study followed the 1999 VIGOR (Vioxx Gastrointestinal Outcomes Research Study) study. The studies linked Vioxx to an increased risk of cardiovascular problems. Researchers concluded that withdrawing Vioxx from the market would be in the best interest of the patients.
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