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Mass Tort

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Submitted By mmwaters
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Vioxx Mass Tort Case

Molly Waters
HCM 5300
Professor Clark
September 8, 2012

Vioxx Tort Case Pharmaceutical companies make new medications every day. These drugs go through rigorous testing and trials before they are put on the market for the public. Sometimes even after all of these tests and trials, drugs can cause major problems after they have been put in to the public market. When problems arise these drugs are normally taken off of the market for further testing, or off of the market for good. Law firms will then take on consumers cases to sue the pharmaceutical company. These are called tort lawsuits and if there are enough people suing then it is a mass tort lawsuit. This paper will look at the mass tort lawsuit against Vioxx. It will explain the problem, how it was addressed by the company, and who was found at fault. Vioxx is drug that was developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck. It was introduced in mid- 1999. Originally Vioxx was a medication that was prescribed to patients for pain. The drug was not on the market for too long before the drug was pulled off of the market. In 2004, Merck pulled the drug off of the market for good on reports that the painkiller increased risk for heart attacks and strokes in patients using it (Voreacos & Johnson, 2010). In the specific case of Merck&Co. vs Garza, the estate of Leonel Garza sued Merck over Mr. Garza’s untimely death. Mr. Garza had started taking Vioxx on March 27, 2001 after visiting his cardiologist and complaining of pain and weakness over a 24 hour period (Merck & Co., Inc. v. Garza). His doctor gave him a one week sample of Vioxx. After this initial appointment, Mr. Garza received several different tests involving blood flow and cardiac tests. At the follow up appointment he saw his doctor’s partner, and this doctor said that the tests showed a mild abnormality. The

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