Irish solicitors to take on US drug firm

AN Irish firm of solicitors has teamed up with a major American law firm to begin what could become an international class action against drug company Merck, makers of the controversial painkiller, Vioxx.

According to analysts, Merck's Vioxx liability is likely to reach $38 billion (€28.1bn) and could go as high as $50bn (€37bn).

Last September, Merck announced a worldwide withdrawal of its arthritis and pain medication Rofecoxib, sold under the brand name Vioxx (or Ceoxx), because a study showed an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

The Irish firm Malcomson Law, with offices in Dublin and Carlow, has joined US law firm Lieff Cabraser to represent patients prescribed Vioxx who suffered strokes and heart attacks.

The firms will together represent affected Vioxx users in individual lawsuits filed in US courts.

According to the lawyers' website, vioxx-withdrawal-solicitor.ie, the firms will consider all submissions by those who think they might have been adversely affected by the drug.

According to Richard Evans, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein, the US-based management research company, the legal liability to Merck could be huge.

"If all the patients who had heart attacks as a result of taking Vioxx were to receive an average-sized legal settlement, Merck's liability could reach $38bn," he said.

When Merck pulled its blockbuster pain medication off the market in late September, it became the largest prescription drug recall in history.

The study that led to the recall of Vioxx showed patients without a history of coronary heart disease or other risk factors regularly taking Vioxx faced twice the risk of a heart attack compared to patients not taking Vioxx.

Vioxx users with a history of cardiovascular problems were at a five-fold increased risk.

The potential for cardiac side-effects with Vioxx had been known for some time, with doctors having expressed concerns about its safety and that of other Cox II inhibitor arthritis drugs.

On October 6 last, the Wall Street Journal reported that the drug may have led to more than 27,000 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths in the US before it was pulled from the market, citing an unreleased study by US government regulators.

Anyone who believes they may be affected can contact Raymond Bradley at 01-8744422.

Vioxx facts

Vioxx is a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug, prescribed to relieve symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatic arthritis.

In addition to heart attacks and strokes, Vioxx has been associated with blood clots, angina, kidney damage and ulcerations.