Puerto Rican Vioxx victims sue Merck
We had reported earlier about the terrible job that Merck had done in providing information on Vioxx in other languages (the standard information that was available in English). Now the same group, Consejo de Latinos Unidos, that had completed the intial study has teamed up with the law firm of Archie Lamb to sue Merck.
What is interesting about this case is that apart from suing the company, the plaintiffs are also providing a clear idea of the damages they want. According to K.B. Forbes, the executive director of the non-profit group, they expect 400 plaintiffs to demand a billion dollars from the company. That comes to exactly $2.5 million per victim. If this number is used to the analysis conducted by iProceed.com, that adds up to a scary $125 billion, much higher than the original forecast of $65 billion and more than twice the $50 billion number that is being provided by other analysts.
And these number might very well turn out to be true. The Humeston versus Merck trial has not gone so well for the company. Chris Seeger and David Buchanan, the attorneys for “Mike” Humeston have produced document after document that shows that Merck knew that Vioxx was just too dangerous to be sold but instead of showing respect for human life, it engaged in a program to deceive doctors, patients, and even the FDA. In fact, according to some documents presented this week, even as the FDA was warning the company, its executives and hired consultants were singing praises about the safety of the drug. The most telling revelation came from a document that showed that Merck’s top scientist Ed Scolnic in January 2001 was so concerned that Merck’s claims about safety of Vioxx were so baseless that it was impossible to prove the company’s own theory (that Aleve was better for the heart rather than Vioxx was dangerous). Rather than admitting to the world that they were wrong and had made up all the research, Scolnick was angry that outside scientists were asking all these questions and challenging the company.
In fact, Merck was so intent on misleading the patients and doctors that any chance that it could get to not talk about the risks, it did. In the lawsuit filed by Puerto Rican plaintiffs, they are charging that “Merck’s failing to print a Spanish warning that costs 1/10 of a cent per package is indicative of a corporation that appears to put profits above the local needs of the Puerto Rican community.”
Recommended article: Merck’s argument about Vioxx safety blasted by Dr. Bendict Lucchesi
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