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- New Hampshire Woman First of Her State to File Vioxx Lawsuit
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NEW HAMPSHIRE WOMAN FIRST OF HER STATE TO FILE VIOXX SUIT
The Associated Press
March 23, 2005
A Newbury woman has filed what appears to be New Hampshire's first lawsuit against the withdrawn pain-relieving drug Vioxx.
Joyce DiMauro filed the suit against Merck & Co. Inc., in U.S. District Court and asked that the case be transferred to a federal court in New Orleans, however, where a judge has been assigned to handle hundreds of individual and class-action suits filed over the once-popular prescription pain relieving drug.
Merck, the drug's manufacturer, pulled Vioxx off the market in September after studies showed it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Vioxx in 1999 for treating arthritis and other pain relief, but Merck continued to study the drug in hope of proving it was easier on the stomach and digestive system than over-the-counter alternatives.
DiMauro and other plaintiffs charge that Merck learned through such studies that Vioxx seemed to raise risks of heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke, but kept quiet and later downplayed the findings.
DiMauro was prescribed Vioxx for back and neck pain, her suit states, though it doesn't specify when. She took 50 milligrams daily until suffering a heart attack on March 21, 2002, according to the suit.
In New Orleans, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon presided over the first pretrial hearing on the Vioxx lawsuits Friday and began by urging lawyers for both sides to think about a settlement.
Fallon's first task will be to appoint a "plaintiffs steering committee" of lawyers, which will take depositions and gather documents for evidence. Fallon said he plans to appoint the committee before the next hearing on April 28. Drug industry experts' estimates of Merck's potential liability in the Vioxx cases range between $4 billion and $30 billion.