German Vioxx victims sue Merck

The list of non-American Vioxx victims who are joining the lawsuits against Merck is steadily growing. According to AFP, a group of four German victims have joined a class action lawsuit.

According to preliminary estimates, the number of victims in Germany runs into a few hundreds, and this is expected to be the start of the process.

In other developments, the trial in the lawsuit filed by Frederick Mike Humeston continues. While it is unclear at this time if his attorney Chris Seeger has established a strong case that his heart attack was a result of Vioxx, it remains to be seen how the Merck legal team convinces the jury that their drug, that has been established to be responsible for higher incidence of heart attacks and strokes, did not cause his heart attack. The news that Merck actually let Vioxx trial patients die may rattle any jury that is evaluating high ethical a company is.

While everyone agrees that Humeston was in great physical shape (he is a decorated Marine), but his mother suffered a heart attack and that may increase his risk as well. His personal physician also said Humeston did not smoke nor did he have diabetes. He also did not have other signs of people likely to get heart attacks, for example, high cholesterol or high blood pressure.

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