Vioxx

Well, the Vioxx controversy is now about 45-50 days old and it is staying in the news. This week, Congressional hearings took center stage as both the FDA and Merck tried to deflect blame from themselves.

Merck, of course, claims that Vioxx really isn't that bad. Heart attacks, strokes and the like are a constant presence in our society and each Vioxx heart attack or stroke victim has to prove that Vioxx caused his or her heart attack - something Merck believes will be hard to do. Merck further claims that Vioxx actually reduced patient deaths from stomach problems inherent in several other NSAIDs. Interesting that they feel that is a fact, while the problems with Vioxx causation are virtually insurmountable.

The Wall Street Journal - Nov. 1, 2004, indicated that top scientists at Merck were aware of the Vioxx side effects but pressed on to try to get the drug approved anyway. Five years later Vioxx was a $2.5Billion bonanza for Merck. One wonders if they were putting profits ahead of patient safety....

The FDA is also deflecting blame - even though some of their top scientists claim that the FDA system is tilted to try to get fast approval and ignores safety data that arises after approval.

Of course there are many lawyers out there trying to represent victims of Vioxx side effects. The key here is to make sure you find a lawyer or law firm that really knows how to handle complex product liability (pharmaceutical liability) lawsuits. You want one with experience, one that has a history of large multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements. One with the resources to stand up to the big drug companies like Merck.

Here are a couple that I have found that might be a good place to start - at least their web sites indicate that they have the experience and the resources to get results in the Vioxx litigation:

Kline & Specter - http://www.VioxxInjuryFirm.com
Trief & Olk - http://www.nynjvioxxattorneys.com