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A Plaintiff's Perspective

By Vance R. Andrus and Richard J. Arsenault

Dr. David Graham, a courageous FDA expert, blew the whistle and started a cascade of events that ultimately led to Merck & Co., Inc.'s withdrawal of its blockbuster drug Vioxx. Recently, he testified in Congress that Vioxx could be “the single greatest drug catastrophe of this country.” Various experts have postulated that Vioxx may be directly responsible for 20,000 to 160,000 heart attacks or strokes with perhaps as many as 40,000 deaths.

What happened? Should Merck be held responsible? This article, which is a condensation of a paper presented at a national Vioxx conference in November 2004, will present a very brief overview of the Vioxx controversy from a plaintiff's perspective. Portions in quotations are taken from the “Plaintiffs' Initial Statement/Position Paper,” prepared by the members of the PSC Executive Committee and filed in In Re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1657, USDC ED, LA.

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