October 19, 2005
According to the plaintiff lawyer in the third civil trial scheduled involving Vioxx, the case has been postponed for up to six months.
Vioxx was pulled from the market last year after a study showed the blockbuster arthritis painkiller was linked to double the risk of heart attacks and strokes among drug users taking the drug for 18 months or longer.
The wrongful death case involves Anna Guerra’s family members who have charged after taking Vioxx for two or three months the 39 year-old mother of two died in 2001 of pulmonary embolism. The family blames Vioxx for her death. The Vioxx trial was originally supposed to begin Oct. 24
Merck has maintained Vioxx has not caused anyone’s death and have denied accusations that it covered up information about the drug’s health risks. Pulmonary embolism is a sudden artery blockage often resulting from a blood clot in the lung that travels from the leg.
The first Vioxx case to go to trial ended in August after a Texas jury awarded the widow of a Vioxx patient who died in 2001 from a heart attack a shocking $253 million. Due to caps in Texas, the award will be reduced. The second trial is currently underway in Atlantic City, New Jersey involving a man who blames Vioxx for his heart attack.
Merck is facing over 5,000 lawsuits from former Vioxx patients or their surviving family members. A $2.5 billion in annual sales drug while on the market, many of the Vioxx cases have been consolidated in federal court.
For more information on the Vioxx trial, please contact us to confer with a Vioxx Recall Lawyer and learn your legal rights and options.
