The conclusion Merck & Co. had been relying on for its defense against the pending Vioxx litigation cases has been disproven in a study called APPROVe. The theory that Merck’s Vioxx takes 18 months of continuous use before an increase in risk of heart attack or stroke had been a key factor of defense in many of the lawsuits piled against Merck – now that this conclusion has been disproven, Merck’s public image has been impaired both in and out of the courts, and its legal battles will be notably more difficult to defend against. There is even a possibility that cases previously won by Merck & Co. could be appealed based on these findings.
After the 2005 APPROVe release stating the withdrawal of this claim, the New England Journal of Medicine corrected their website by removing the statement that it takes 18 months for Vioxx to cause an increase in risk of heart attack and altered the wordings within their documents to say that the 18 month difference can be observed by visual inspection of the mathematic curves, yet holds the statement that the difference is not statistically significant.
Steven Nissen, interim chairman of Cleveland Clinic has publicly noted the fact that it is possible to argue that Vioxx increases chances of heart attacks and stroke after only three months of use.
If you or someone you know has been injured by a defective or dangerous drug like Vioxx, please feel free to contact a personal injury attorney such as Jim S. Adler and Associates in Houston, Texas.
