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Son's lawsuit blames Vioxx in death

Wichitan's mother died in 2003 after taking the painkiller for four years.

BY DANA STRONGIN

The Wichita Eagle - Feb. 19, 2005 - The son of a Wichita woman who was taking Vioxx before she died has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the prescription painkiller's manufacturer, Merck & Co. Freda Pearl Webb, who was 85 when she died in February 2003, had taken the drug since December 1999 for arthritis pain.

Her son, Charles Webb, filed suit in federal district court in Wichita and is charging the company with negligence, fraud and other violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

Merck has said it faces at least 575 individual product liability and personal injury lawsuits over Vioxx, plus another 70 seeking class-action status.

Freda Webb had osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, said Mark Hutton, her son's lawyer. Her doctor recommended she try multiple medications, including Vioxx, in an effort to fight the pain.

Webb died of a stroke, Hutton said. Studies have connected Vioxx and similar medications to an increased risk of cardiovascular problems, including stroke and heart attack.

"Researchers had been warning about a connection between Vioxx and increased risk of heart attack and stroke for years. Merck had knowledge of the research, yet continued to market and promote Vioxx," reads the lawsuit's complaint.

Hutton is also representing Betty Smith, a Wichita woman who filed a lawsuit against Merck last fall. Smith is claiming that Vioxx caused her to have a heart attack, which resulted in bypass surgery.

Hutton said his office is investigating hundreds of other cases involving Vioxx.

Both of Hutton's cases, along with others around the country alleging that Vioxx harmed patients, will be transferred to Judge Eldon Fallon in New Orleans, who has experience in major pharmaceutical litigation.

Hutton expressed concern Friday about a panel's recommendation to the Food & Drug Administration that it put Vioxx back on the shelves -- even if it does come with more warnings this time.

"A lot of people may not read those warnings," Hutton said. "They'll assume, 'It's on the marketplace, therefore it must be safe.' "

Hutton said he would rather not see Vioxx available to patients. There's no reason to keep prescribing it, he said.

"There are other products that provide the same benefits," he said.

Merck gets green light to relaunch Vioxx

February 20, 2005 - Merck & Co's blockbuster painkiller drug Vioxx, withdrawn on September 30 in the world's biggest drug recall, may be sold again, but with the strongest possible safety warning, the US Food and Drug Administration recommended on Friday night. Merck's shares jumped 13 per cent on the news.

The FDA said the benefits of Vioxx outweighed its link to heart attacks and strokes and that it should stay on the market but with a label warning and a black box.

Vioxx is a drug which was prescribed to patients with arthritis to help alleviate the pain associated with the disease. It was first approved in Australia on June 30, 1999, and in the year leading up to the drug's recall, there were close to 3.2 million prescriptions issued, to almost 500,000 people. Vioxx had worldwide sales of $US2.5 billion ($A3.2 billion) in 2003.

Vioxx has been linked to 100,000 strokes, heart attacks and deaths around the world since its release in 1999.

The FDA also gave similar approvals to Pfizer Inc's Celebrex and Bextra. These three medicines target the body's production of Cox-2, an enzyme linked to pain and swelling. They are designed to be easier on the stomach than drugs such as aspirin.

About 84 million people worldwide have taken Vioxx and Merck had expected annual sales of the drug to reach $US3.5 billion before its forced withdrawal.

The FDA panel found Celebrex to be the least risky of the Cox-2 drugs.

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