Canadian class action against Vioxx
American drug company Merck is facing a class action certified by The Ontario Superior Court of Justice over its troubled painkiller Vioxx.
The pharmaceutical company is paying out billions of dollars to settle lawsuits in the US.
The Canadian case includes Vioxx users outside the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Saskatchewan, where judges have already certified class action personal injury cases. The drug was made at a Merck research institue in Quebec.
This involved several thousand patients, said plaintiffs attorney Bonnie Tough, and that the cases date back to 2004.
Merck said in a statement it wants to appeal the ruling. The New Jersey based company concedes that each plaintiff’s case should be tried separately.
“The company intends to defend these cases vigorously over the coming years, and we are confident that the courts will decide these cases based on sound science,” said Merck’s lawyer Mary M. Thomson in the statement.
Merck recalled Vioxx four years ago due to increased heart attack risks, after which it faced plenty of lawsuits. This case has set Merck back by at least $6.8 billion.
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