Utah man loses Vioxx case

In a recent statement, the Merck CEO gloated over the fact that the company has not paid a single penny to any of the families of 60,000 Americans who have died after taking Vioxx, but who is to blame. After all, it seems that almost all victims are/were in poor health. “Heart attacks are, unfortunately, a leading cause of death in the United States and have multiple causes,” Merck's chief counsel, Kenneth Frazier said after the verdict came. In other words, with two out of three Americans being either obese/overweight (and suffering from all kinds of problems related to cholesterol, diabetes, heart diseases, etc.), it is simply easy to argue that the victim "would have suffered a heart attack whether he was taking VIOXX or not” as the company puts it.

The latest Vioxx victim to lose his case is Charles Laron "Ron" Mason of Salt Lake County, Utah, who is a typical American health-wise. To further complicate his case, he did not take the deadly drug a few days prior to his heart attack - maybe it helped him in the sense that he did not die but was not a help today in his case. While many independent experts have argued that Vioxx can kill even if taken rarely and the dangers may last for years, in this particular case, the revelation came to the surprise of everyone - including his own attorney - in the court.

The next federal lawsuit by Anthony Dedrick of Waynesboro, Tennesse is scheduled to go to trial in Fallon's court after Thanksgiving. A decision is expected soon in the cases brought by Rudolph Arrigale and Lawrence Appel.

Merck in a lot of trouble

The company is getting into more trouble for cheating on its taxes. A penalty of over $5 billion is expected. In a related development, Canadian Vioxx victims who had sued the company's subsidiary there won a victory when a judge in Quebec ruled that the lawsuit should proceed forward despite company's wish to try one case at a time. Plus, the company still faces over 20,000 lawsuits in the US alone.