Class Action Finder » Pharmaceuticals

Canadian class action against Vioxx

yuming — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:34:42 +0000

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.

Cholesterol drugs Zeta and Vytorin face class action suits

yuming — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:07:40 +0000

To update our article on Vytorin, Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp and facing class action suits for Zetia and Vytorin in four different states.

The class members include patients and medical insurers who paid for the drug that apparently had no positive medical benefits.

The complaint says that the drug manufacturers placed profits over concern for its impact on the health of users.

The Zetia and Vytorin class action suits are seeking compensation for the cost of the prescription or the difference between the cost of their prescription and what the generic cholesterol drugs would have cost.

The attorneys at Saiontz, Kirk & Miles in Baltimore, Maryland are also analyzing the possibility for individual Vytorin lawsuits for users of the drugs who suffered a heart attack or stroke.

Since Vytorin does not give any medical benefit, even the smallest increase in the risk of a heart attack or stroke would be unacceptable.

Merck puts an end to state probes on Vioxx

yuming — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:01:37 +0000

Merck & Co Inc announced last week Tuesday it will make a $58 million settlement to resolve state investigations into its withdrawn painkiller, Vioxx. The payment is to be shared by 29 states and the District of Columbia.

This concludes previous probes of Vioxx marketing campaigns under state consumer protection laws.

Merck recalled the highly profitable drug (it earned a purported $2.5 billion a year) in September 2004 after a study found it doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who took Vioxx for at least a year and a half. By that time, the pain medication had been consumed by 20 million Americans.

In November, Merck agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle most of the claims that Vioxx caused heart attacks and strokes in thousands of users. At the time the settlement announcement, Merck was facing some 26,600 lawsuits.

Last month Merck said that it had taken a pretax charge of $55 million in the first quarter in anticipation of the settlement.

“Today’s agreement enables Merck to put this matter behind us and focus on what Merck does best, developing new medicines,” Bruce Kuhlik, Merck’s general counsel, said in a statement.

Vioxx

yuming — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:45:18 +0000

A widely prescribed arthritis drug, Vioxx has been found to lead to a higher risk of stroke and heart attack in users. A widely prescribed arthritis drug, Vioxx has been removed from the market after a three-year study proved its chronic use led to a higher risk of stroke and heart attack in users, even though it caused fewer stomach ulcers and bleeding compared to other arthritis drugs.

Vioxx was reportedly marketed as a more effective drug for relieving arthritis, but with fewer side effects as other drugs.

The producers of Vioxx, Merck & Co., launched the drug in 1999 and has reaped almost USD2.5 billion in 2003.

Not just prescribed for arthritis, Vioxx was also used to treat acute pain in adults and painful menstrual cycles.

New update:

On 6 Sept 2007, the class action lawsuit against Merck & Co. over its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx was rejected by the New Jersey Supreme Court.

The suit had been filed by a union health plan which represented all insurance plans that forked out for Vioxx prescriptions. That meant 80 per cent of all Vioxx sold.

This is reportedly a victory for the pharmaceutical company that nearly had to face approximately 27,000 individual lawsuits from those who claimed the drug caused strokes and heart attacks. It was projected that the company would lose up to US$18 billion in compensation payments.

Vytorin

yuming — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:50:21 +0000

Pharmaceutical companies Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp are being sued in at least four states in the US for their cholesterol-lowering drug, Vytorin. The two companies collaborated on a joint venture to combine Schering-Plough’s Zetia and Merck’s Zocor, which makes Vytorin. The plaintiffs are suing the makers of Vytorin for marketing it as more effective than other generic drugs when they had known it had no extra significant benefits.

Zetia pushes down cholesterol levels via decreasing the absorption of cholesterol in the intestinal tract. Other typical cholesterol-lowering drugs, also called statins, focus on the liver instead. Zocor is a statin. However, the combination of these two drugs did not, in fact, lower cholesterol more than other similar, inexpensive ones. Vytorin reportedly costs about 60 per cent more than other brands. Also, the defendants claimed that this drug reduced arterial plaque but they failed to make public they had findings that showed Zetia was not capable of decreasing arterial plaque.

New York attorney David Rheingold is seeking a class action status for other Vytorin users in the Southern District of New York. What sparked this suit was his mother who took Vytorin from 2005 to 2007. The suit charges that Vytorin had no benefit to those taking it so their health insurance company or Medicare should be compensated.

In a related class action suit, The Rosen Law Firm announced on January 24 2008 that they are filing a class action lawsuit representing all purchasers of Schering-Plough Corp who bought stock from July 24 2006 to January 14 2008.

The suit charges that Schering-Plough Corp made false and misleading financial statements regarding its two leading cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia, which led to artificially inflating its stock. It says that the financial success reported during the class period was based in part by Schering-Plough Corp’s manipulation of drug testing results for Vytorin and Zetia. The announcement of the class action suit by Vytorin users caused Schering-Plough Corp’s shares to plunge, which in turn affected investors.

The above-mentioned suit has not been granted class action status as yet.

Accutane

yuming — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 03:49:50 +0000

One of the top three drugs for most reported side effects by the Food & Drug Administration, Accutane, also known as isotretinoin, is an oral medication usually prescribed to treat severe cystic acne that has not responded to typical antibiotics.

A synthetic form of Vitamin A, this drug shrinks oil glands and decreases production of sebum.

Accutane is manufactured by Hoffman-La Roche, Inc. Regarded as a strong type of acne medication, it still works even after treatment has ceased.

In the late Eighties, Accutane was found to cause birth defects. Other adverse side effects that can be suffered include severe depression, psychosis and suicide. Damage to various organs like the kidneys, liver, pancreas, gastro-intestinal tract and auto-immune system are also possible, plus an increased risk of colon cancer.

Baycol

yuming — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 03:49:10 +0000

A cholesterol-lowering drug that belongs to a group of medication called â€œstatinsâ€. This is a cholesterol-lowering drug that belongs to a group of medication called statins. Statins improve cholesterol levels by blocking out a particular enzyme that is essential in the production of cholestrol in the body.

In 2001, Bayer AG, Baycol’s manufacturer, reportedly recalled this drug from the US market because there were reports of people suffering from a severe muscle affliction called fatal rhabdomyolysis. Apparently, this side effect was seen in those who took Baycol in higher doses and when used together with lipid lowering drug, Gemfibrozil.

What is fatal rhabdomyolysis? It is a deteriorating condition where cells in the muscles break down and seep into the blood stream causing symptoms like nausea, vomiting, fever, dark urine, muscle pain, especially in the calves and lower back. In extremely rare incidences, the muscles can be so severely attacked that patients can face renal or other organ failure, which in turn can be fatal.

Bextra

yuming — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 03:48:30 +0000

Studies have found popular painkiller for arthritis and menstrual cycles doubles the chances of suffering a heart attack, stroke or death. Studies have found popular painkiller for arthritis and menstrual cycles doubles the chances of suffering a heart attack, stroke or death.

This drug can also lead to a rare but potentially fatal skin disease called Stevens Johnson Syndrome. The symptoms include inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes.

Another negative side effect is Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis where the skin reddens and peels dramatically. Skin reactions to Bextra occurs within the first two weeks of consumption, but can develop at any time during the course of medication.

Ketek

yuming — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 03:47:54 +0000

Produced by Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Ketek is an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections in the lungs and sinuses. Produced by Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Ketek is an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections in the lungs and sinuses.

Also known as telithromycin, Ketek belongs to a group of drugs called ketolide antibiotics. Recently, this drug is linked to severe liver damage, hepatitis and death.

In January 2006, it was reported by a medical journal that three sufferers developed serious liver problems. The FDA has also issued a safety alert regarding Ketek’s relation to liver failure. To date, there has been four deaths related to the consumption of this drug.

Lipitor

yuming — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 03:47:15 +0000

This suit looked to prove Pfizer’s promotion of Lipitor has created an artificial demand for the drug Lipitor that did not benefit its users. On 28 September 2005, a class action suit was filed against pharmaceutical company Pfizer for launching an aggressive but misleading advertising campaign to promote Liptor, a cholesterol lowering drug.

It was marketed as an effective way to reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes for women under 65 or individuals over 65 who have not previously been diagnosed with heart disease or diabetes, when there was no evidence to support this claim.

Lipitor is a widely used statin drug that reaped a phenomenal $12 billion in 2003. This suit looked to prove Pfizer’s promotion of Lipitor has created an artificial demand for the drug Lipitor that did not benefit its users.

This class action suit was filed by several individuals and organizations such as Health Care For All and the Pennsylvania Benefit Trust Fund in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.