Canada-wide Vioxx settlement approved

A settlement has been approved which resolves Vioxx claims across Canada. Class actions were filed across Canada on behalf of individuals who used and/or purchased Vioxx, a prescription pain medication distributed by Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. ("Merck"), which was available in Canada until September 30, 2004. The lawsuits included allegations that individuals ingesting Vioxx were placed at an increased risk of experiencing various medical conditions including a heart attack (myocardial infarction), sudden cardiac death, or ischemic stroke and that a proper warning of these increased risks was not provided. The allegations made in the class actions have not been proven in court and the courts have not taken any position as to the truth or merits of the claims or defences asserted by either side. Merck denies the allegations and states that it made the results of its studies available to the scientific community and regulatory authorities around the world. The settlement is for up to $36,881,250.00 depending upon the number of claims ultimately approved, and includes payments to provincial health insurers, payments towards legal costs, and payments for notice and claims administration. Individuals (or their estates) may be eligible to receive payment if they took Vioxx and then experienced a myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death or ischemic stroke while taking, or shortly after stopping, Vioxx. Spouses and children of eligible claimants may also be eligible for payment. Under the terms of the settlement, eligible claimants will receive payment based on the type of event they experienced and a number of other factors including duration of use of Vioxx and risk factors. Class Counsel is very pleased with the settlement which will result in significant payments being distributed to eligible claimants. According to Michael Peerless of Siskinds LLP, one of the lead counsel for the plaintiffs who negotiated the settlement, "It is an excellent result in a very challenging case." Individuals in Canada who used Vioxx are represented by a consortium of firms across the country. Further information for class members is available at the website www.vioxxnationalclassaction.com. Claim forms can be obtained at: www.vioxxclassactionsettlement.ca or by contacting the Claims Administrator, NPT Ricepoint Class Action Services, at: 1-888-507-8759

Elsevier admits journal error

"Elsevier, the world's leading scientific publisher, said it had failed to meet its own standards for "accuracy and transparency" in producing a publication sponsored by Merck, the US pharmaceutical group, but presented as an independent academic journal. The Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, complete with an honorary editorial board of academics from Australia and New Zealand, contained a selection of reprinted articles from other journals concerning Merck's medicines Fosamax and Vioxx, and no disclosure that it was funded by the company. The publication marks a fresh twist in tactics to promote medicines by pharmaceutical companies, which have long provided substantial income to academic journals by paying for large numbers of reprints of articles favourable to their drugs for distribution to doctors. However, the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, which was produced in several issues between 2003 and 2005, has no website and is not listed as a journal in standard depositories of academic literature such as the Medline database" - FT

Scientist 'worried' at Vioxx heart risk

"A MERCK scientist involved in developing the company's anti-arthritis drug Vioxx admitted in an internal email two years before the drug was released that the possibility of increased heart attacks was "of great concern". A 1997 email written by Alise Reicin, tendered to the Federal Court as part of a case against the US pharmaceutical giant, reveals she was worried about the increased cardiovascular risks of the new anti-inflammatory drug when designing a clinical trial of Vioxx. "The possibility of increased CV (cardiovascular) events is of great concern - (I just can't wait to be the one to present these results to senior management!)," she writes in the email, dated February 25. Ms Reicin goes on to suggest they "exclude" any patients with a history of heart problems so the difference between the two study groups "would not be evident"." - The Australian

Painkiller risk found for heart patients

"Heart attack and heart failure patients have a higher risk of a second heart attack or death if they take painkillers, including the generic drug ibuprofen and Celebrex, made by Pfizer, a Danish study has found. Patients who had suffered a heart attack and were taking Vioxx, a painkiller that has been withdrawn from the market, had 2.7 times the risk of having another heart attack or dying compared with patients not taking painkillers, according to research presented Tuesday at the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans. Patients taking Celebrex had double the risk; patients taking the generic diclofenac had 1.9 times the risk, and those taking ibuprofen had 1.3 times the risk, the study found" - New York Times

Vioxx's heart risk lingered long after use ended

"When the pain killer Vioxx was pulled from the market in 2004 over concerns that it increased the risk of heart attack, stroke and death, many assumed that stopping the drug would end the risk. But a new study finds that "the risk was increased close to twofold, and the risk persisted for approximately a year," said co-author Dr. Robert Bresalier, a professor of medicine at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "The good news is that, after a year, the risk seemed to go back down toward normal," he said. The report was published online in the October 14 issue of The Lancet"