Puerto Ricans sue Merck over Vioxx deaths

As previously reported on eCreativa Online Media Updates, a group of family members of 18 Puerto Ricans who died after taking Vioxx have filed a class action lawsuit against Merck over the recall of painkiller Vioxx. The victims are being helped by a consumer rights group Consejo de Latinos Unidos. The FDA estimates that as many as 60,000 Americans are dead after taking the drug.

Since the recall of Vioxx last year, Vioxx litigation has progressed slowly. There is a trial in progress right now in Atlantic City and one case was decided in favor of the plaintiff Carol Ernst in Angleton, Texas. The federal trial is expected to start in November this year in Houston.

Apart from misleading most Vioxx patients about the risks of the painkiller, the Spanish speakers are accusing Merck of ignoring them even more by not providing even basic information in the language - something that was available to English speakers. Vioxx (sold as Ceoxx in some countries) was sold worldwide before being pulled.

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