Major Drug Settlement To Help Vioxx Victims
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Janis Roberts is only 56-years old but already she's had several heart attacks, heart by-pass surgery, a dozen stents inserted in her arteries and a stroke. She's on oxygen and disability living with her sister in St. Nicholas.
For her the news Friday morning that drug maker, Merck had agreed to a $4.85 billion settlement over Vioxx meant, "I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel."
Roberts and thousands of others were given Vioxx to treat pain. She took the drug from 1997 to 1999 after suffering a degenerative disk and scoliosis. She says the Vioxx worked well until she had her first heart attack. A family member told her she saw something on television about the dangers of Vioxx so she stopped taking the drug.
Roberts is just one of thousands of people injured from Vioxx. The settlement will end as many as 50,000 personal injury lawsuits from people who suffered heart attacks or ischemic strokes.It was settled among negotiating teams who met dozens of times in eight states to hammer out the deal.
Vioxx was puilled from the market in September 2004, after it was linked to a doubling of the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Plaintiffs like Roberts now get to wait as law firms such as ours estimate the size of their award depending how how they were hurt, whether they had prior medical conditions and can prove they had a heart attack or stroke following taking at least 30 Vioxx pills. 85 percent of all plaintiffs in key categories must agree to the deal to make it binding. The $4.85 billion amount will not change stresses Merck.
Roberts says she plans to buy a house for her and her sister to live in. It will be nice, she says not to have to struggle on disability month to month, but she'd rather have her health back.
For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.