The popular painkiller Vioxx was removed from the market after it was linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
Removal of the drug by Merck & Co. was announced Sept. 30, 2004 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (See the FDA news release.) The action occurred after a study by Merck of Vioxx/rofecoxib suggested that some Vioxx users face twice the risk of suffering a heart attack. The most recent data, released September 2006, concluded that Vioxx increased heart and kidney risks, in some cases within 30 days after treatment. (Read the article.)
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. News agencies, such as CNN, projected the case “could have a profound effect on thousands of other cases filed against the company.” (See stories, CNN, New York Times)
If you or someone you know suffered illness or death as a result of using Vioxx, you may want to contact a Vioxx lawyer for a free evaluation of your case.
Kline & Specter, P.C., with some 30 experienced attorneys (five of them also highly regarded doctors), is one of the nation's leading law firms with the ability to litigate Vioxx lawsuits. Kline & Specter, based in Philadelphia and with offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, is among the handful of law firms spearheading the national litigation against Merck, with our Vioxx attorneys deposing ranking Merck & Co. executives and scientists.
Tom Kline is a member of the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee directing the federal Vioxx litigation and he has deposed key witness in the Vioxx litigation. Specter was selected to take the depositions of Merck CEO Ray Gilmartin, Merck Research Laboratories President Peter Kim, Merck former Senior Vice-President Alan Neis and Merck Senior Biostatistician Deborah Shapiro. Specter's examination of Shapiro was held by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee to be the only evidence sufficient to support a punitive damages verdict against Merck.Technorati tags: vioxx vioxx attorney vioxx lawyer vioxx lawyers Ron Paul ron paul Galilea Montijo galilea montijo murray waas RailsConf railsconf youtube gtd myspace popfly paris hilton bebo mario lopez immigration wolfowitz aquantive joost
