Texas attorney general sues Merck over Vioxx

	Tweet

The Texas attorney general said on Thursday he has sued Merck & Co., accusing the drugmaker of committing Medicaid fraud in promoting its arthritis drug Vioxx, adding the state of Texas to the thousands of plaintiffs suing Merck over its withdrawn drug.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is seeking $168 million in damages - triple the amount he figures the Texas Medicaid program paid in reimbursements to pharmacists for Vioxx prescriptions filled in the state over a five-year period.

Merck pulled Vioxx from the market last September after a study showed that long-term use of the once $2.5 billion-a-year drug increased the risk of Heart attack and Stroke. Lawsuits have since alleged that Merck knew of the dangers of Vioxx years before it withdrew the painkiller.

As of June 15, Merck said it was facing more than 3,800 product liability suits in state and federal courts, with at least 118 class action suits pending from patients charging that they were harmed by the drug.

Merck has contended all along that it voluntarily withdrew Vioxx as soon as it had definitive evidence of increased risk.

Abbott is the first state attorney general to sue Merck over Vioxx, Merck said.

Industry analysts have predicted that Merck will have to spend billions of dollars on Vioxx litigation.

According to the latest lawsuit, Abbott charges that Merck’s failure to disclose the adverse effects of Vioxx, while offering it to the state’s Medicaid program as a safe painkiller, directly violates the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.

Abbott contends that had the facts about Vioxx come to light earlier, doctors and Medicaid patients would have chosen other painkillers, such as generic naproxen, at a fraction of the cost of Vioxx.

The drugmaker said it will vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit brought by the Texas attorney general.

“Merck acted responsibly from researching Vioxx prior to approval in studies with almost 10,000 patients to monitoring the medicine while it was on the market to voluntarily withdrawing the medicine when it did,” the drugmaker said in a statement. 

RELATED STORIES:
UK agency proposes ban on Alzheimer’s drugs   About 1.2 million people use stimulants for non-medical reasons, government finds   Wisconsin’s governor urges making drug imports safe   P&G being sued over Pampers Dry Max diapers   Opiate painkillers raise fracture risk   FDA still probing recall of some Tylenol products   Drug prevents bone loss side effects of breast cancer medication   Morning-after pill sparks controversy in Peru   Drug Prescribed for Migraines and Seizures Increases Risk of Kidney Stones   Fake drugs threaten gains made in war on malaria   Fertility drug may boost uterine cancer risk   Long-term risks of Viagra® use unclear

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]