Merck Vioxx News and Press Releases - News Menu

Testimony Begins in 1st Federal Vioxx Trial

By Theresa Agovino

Nov. 30, 2005 - Associated Press HOUSTON – A lawyer representing the widow of man who claims that Merck & Co.’s Vioxx caused her husband’s death argued Tuesday that taking the pain reliever for one month was enough to cause the 53-year old man’s heart attack.

But Merck countered in opening statements at the first federal Vioxx trial that its extensive studies of the painkiller before introducing it in 1999 showed no evidence it caused heart attacks with short-term use, and that heart disease, not Vioxx, led to Richard Irvin’s death.
This is the third trial Merck is facing over Vioxx’s safety. It lost the first state trial in Texas last August, but scored a victory in its home state of New Jersey earlier this month.

Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market in September 2004 after a long-term study showed the drug doubled risk of heart attack or stroke if taken for 18 months or longer. By then, more than 20 million Americans had used Vioxx.

Plaintiff’s attorney Andy Birchfield said Merck knew about Vioxx’s safety problems before it was launched. Birchfield quoted from internal e-mails, including some from Merck scientists who raised warning flags about its cardiovascular risks, to support his assertions.

Merck’s lawyer, Phil Beck, told jurors that Vioxx didn’t cause Irvin’s heart attack and that the company acted responsibly at all times in its development and marketing of the drug.

Dr. Benedict Lucchesi, a cardiac researcher from the University of Michigan called by the plaintiff’s side, told jurors that Vioxx raises the risk of heart attacks because it blocks production of a substance called prostacyclin, which keeps the blood from clotting.

“I think it is highly likely that Vioxx contributed to Mr. Irvin’s heart attack,” said Lucchesi, who testified at the two other Vioxx trials.
But under cross-examination, Lucchesi conceded that he never looked at the slides of Irvin’s blocked artery and acknowledged the scientific debate about whether an imbalance of prostacyclin and thromboxane leads to heart attacks.

Merck faces about 7,000 state and federal lawsuits and analysts have estimated its liability could reach $50 billion.

Mesothelioma Search Engine to Consolidate Medical and Legal Information

New lung cancer search engine provides information on medical and legal web sites for those researching this asbestos-caused killer cancer

Minneapolis, MN, February 25, 2006 --(PR.COM)-- On the one-year anniversary of the launch of their Vioxx Search Engine, Nielsen Technical Services today announced the launch of their Mesothelioma Search Engine.

Niche search engines or vertical search engines have increased in popularity, but the time and expense of creating and maintaining a search engine for a highly vertical segment of an available search audience is generally not a good investment financially. When asked about the financial viability of such a site, owner Chris Nielsen said, “We have some interested parties that would like to be associated with us and are exploring those options, but will not compromise our values for the sake of making a buck. The massive amount of money the asbestos and mesothelioma lawyers are spending have resulted in a feeding frenzy which has spawned thousands of sites and millions of pages of fluff, trash, and recycled content. I admit our site is expected to carry ads at some point, but that is not the reason for creating the site.”

Nielsen was then asked the reason for creating such a site. “I just could not find a central source to go for information where sites were not bidding or competitively optimizing for position and search engine ranking. Search engines are fighting to maintain relevancy but they are having problems. Many ‘scraper sites’ are only looking to get visitors that will click on ads to reach real content. If you try a search for ‘mesothelioma’ it should be clear what the problem is.”

As with their Vioxx medical and legal search engine, Mesothelioma Search Engine will carry no paid search engine results or paid inclusion of sites. The site has a form for visitors to suggest sites. The list of sites included in the index is posted on the site and available for download, a feature not offered by other search engines.

The company is indexing selected sites for those looking for more information such as patients, researchers, families, doctors, pharmacists, students, and those in the legal profession. This site is offered as a public service for those looking for information related to medical and legal information on mesothelioma lung cancer, or asbestos lung cancer for which there is no cure and is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers or asbestos dust.

About Nielsen Technical Services
The company is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and has been providing computer and software services since 1988. The Internet has transformed the company from a hardware services company into Internet consulting and specializes in search engine optimization.

Contact:
Chris Nielsen
Mesothelioma Search Engine
952-943-0170
webmaster@Mesothelioma-Search-Engine.com

Other Resources
Drug Stores
Medical Classifieds
Legal Search Engine
Top Mesothelioma Sites
Phone Cards

Vioxx-Search-Engine.com
7141 Oak Pointe Curve
Minneapolis, MN 55438 USA

©Copyright
Nielsen Technical Services
All Rights Reserved Worldwide