Merck & Co the creators of Vioxx have a tuff job ahead of them in a series of vioxx lawsuit cases. Vioxx has been used primarily in the treatment of signs and symptoms of arthritis, but has also been prescribed to treat acute pain in adults and menstrual pain in women. It is a Cox-2 selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug or NSAID. Other Cox -2 selective NSAIDs on the market are Celebrex and Bextra. Vioxx is also related to nonselective NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and naproxen.
In September of 2004, Vioxx manufacturer, Merck & Co, voluntarily recalled Vioxx worldwide, due to safety concerns. The FDA issued a public advisory regarding the safety of Vioxx, though it was pulled from the market before the FDA had an opportunity to do a thorough review. The recent vioxx class action lawsuit cases that are apearing on TV come from the reports of a growing list of side effects such as blood clots, stroke and heart attack.
Merck pulled the drug from the market when a study confirmed longstanding concerns about the drug and demonstrated that the regular use of Vioxx doubled the patient’s risk of heart attack or stroke if used regularly and for a prolonged period. Reports such as this are creating mounting piles of dangerous evidence for prosecuters and thier filed vioxx lawsuit.
The FDA originally approved Vioxx in May 1999. At that time, their data, which included approximately 5,000 patients, did not indicate an increased risk for heart attack and strokes. However, later studies such as the one involving colon polyps, and another to study the effects of Vioxx upon stomach ulcers, show a correlation between the regular use of Vioxx and increased side effects of heart attack or stroke. The most recent vioxx class action lawsuit has cleared Merck & Co on November 3 2005.
After the recall of Vioxx, many doctors have recommended patients switch to other Cox-2 inhibitors such as Celebrex or Bextra, however, these medications have raised health concerns as well. Other patients have been advised to treat their symptoms with NSAIDs such as ibuprofen or naproxen.
As of late October 2005, there are over 6500 voixx lawsuit cases filed and waiting to be taken into court.
This was a big week for Merck and the most publicized vioxx trial to date. On November 3 2005 a New Jersey jury decided that Merck & Co had provided enough information and warnings regarding the risks and side effects of using vioxx. This vioxx trial is based on the question, "Did Merck & Co commit consumer fraud while marketing the popular vioxx medication?"
The public has seen a surge of publicity in the vioxx trials since Merck recalled the drug back in September of 2004. Even though the FDA had approved vioxx, it is to Merck's credit that they did pull the drug of their own accord before any of these vioxx trials came to light. Merk has also declared in each vioxx lawsuit that they have not only taken the proper steps of pulling the drug from the shelves but in also informing consumers of their case study results and the risks that were found.
This most recent vioxx trial required only eight hours for the jury to decide that Merck had no associated liability in regards to consumer fraud. Merck has also been cleared of responsibility in the death of a 60 year old man by heart attack. The fact that vioxx has been declared not to have been directly responsible for his heart attack will set a favorable precedent for Merck in any future vioxx trial. This is huge for Merck & Co as there are over 6500 vioxx class action lawsuit cases waiting in the wings. This many cases, with guilty verdicts, could cost Merck an incredible amount of money.
To date Merck is running a 1 to 1 average. Things were looking very bad for Merck during the first vioxx trial when the drug was found to be a direct contributor in the death of another man. What is the cost of a guilty verdict in a vioxx trial for Merck? This particular case awarded the victim 253 million dollars. 6500 cases at $253 million a piece is a very good reason for Merck to make a strong case on their behalf.
I had a training client that was prone to back spasm's and would take vioxx when a spasm would flare up. I thought I would take a look into this drug and see what vioxx side effects my client could possibly expect. Here is what I came up with.
Vioxx has the dubious distinction of 1st place in the FDA's 'top suspects' list, as having the most spontaneous side effects reported. Vioxx was developed as a simple NSAID that would have less potential for gastrointestinal side effects compared to aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.
Vioxx approved medical usage include being used as a Cyclo-oxygenase II (COX-2) inhibitor, anti-inflammatory and analgesic for osteoarthritis, and relief for severe menstrual cramps. While those are the benefits the voixx side effects include serious cardiovascular thromboembolic side effects (such as heart attacks, angina pectoris, and peripheral vascular events) and blood clots.
Because of the growing list of complaints and discoveries of vioxx side effects there has been an increase in the amount of lawsuits brought toward Merck. For further vioxx lawsuit Information or vioxx litigation.
6,994 adverse event vioxx side effects reports were filed concerning this medication. In a trial of more than 8,000 patients comparing vioxx with naproxen, the rate of severe upper gastrointestinal bleeding was lower for vioxx but the rate of myocardial infarct was higher.
The incidence of myocardial infarction was lower among patients in the naproxen group than among those in the vioxx group (0.1 percent vs. 0.4 percent). The mechanism is not clear, but being obtained in a double blind prospective clinical trial, this result carries a great deal of weight.
FDA recommends label changes for Vioxx on Feb. 8, 2001, to add some warnings about vioxx side effects and recommendations against using vioxx in obvious cases of ischemic heart disease, and against using the 50 mg dose chronically.
There are also stomach, liver, and kidney side effects associated with vioxx, some of which may be traced to the thrombotic embolism problem.
Voixx Update Thursday October 28, 2004: Merck announced results of clinical trials indicating a reduction in serious, confirmed upper gastrointestinal side effects for vioxx compared to four widely used NSAIDs. This was the original rationale for develop this COX-2 inhibitor.