Britons plan to sue Merck in U.S. over Vioxx

Britons who believe they suffered after taking Merck & Co. Inc.'s painkiller Vioxx plan to sue the drugmaker in the U.S. courts next year, a law firm said on Monday.

MSB Solicitors in Liverpool said it was working with around 150 British plaintiffs who aimed to sue Merck in its home state of New Jersey, after a court in Texas last week found the manufacturer negligent in the death of a man who took the drug.

MSB partner Gerard Dervan said it made sense for plaintiffs to pursue Merck in the U.S. courts, since British authorities had so far decided not to provide legal aid and UK courts could force them to pay Merck's costs if they lost.

"The American judicial system is more suited to large legal claims against pharmaceutical companies than the UK," he told.

Merck pulled Vioxx off the market in September, saying its long-term usage could double users' risks of Heart Attack or Stroke, in a move that opened the door to negligence claims.

In the first of thousands of Vioxx lawsuits to go to trial, the jury in Texas on Friday awarded $253 million to the widow of a man who died after taking Vioxx.

The verdict is certain to be greatly reduced under Texas law, but the scale of the award stunned many observers and has triggered fresh interest from potential claimants around the world.

Dervan said his firm had fielded dozens of calls since the weekend.

MSB expects the first British case involving Christine Peckham to be ready to go to trial in 2006. The Lancashire woman suffered two strokes after taking Vioxx.