Sunday, October 03, 2004

the lawsuits begin ...

just a couple of days after Merck pulled its blockbuster drug Vioxx off the market, the lawsuits have begun - people suing Merck for deaths caused by cardiovascular disease induced or aggravated by Vioxx.
A Missouri woman has sued the maker of arthritis drug Vioxx over the 2002 death of her daughter. The suit filed Friday by Caroline Nevels of Lexington came a day after Merck & Co. pulled the medication from shelves over fears users faced increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Nevels says her 34-year-old daughter, Shelly South, took Vioxx for 2 1/2 years before dying of a heart attack in November 2002. She claims Merck knew of the risks of Vioxx long before its announcement Thursday
If what she alleges is proven, then the loss of $25B in marketcap on friday might just be the tip of Merck's iceberg of problems ...

2 comments:

Aditya said...

looks like i forgot to put the link in - there are several more class action lawsuits appearing now:

here is the originalanother one in Canadaand more

Parag said...

All the lawsuit lawyers involved should be fed a diet rich in Vioxx.