Merck to mount an aggressive Vioxx recall defense

Merck has been very consistent in its PR strategy from Day One of Vioxx recall. Fortune magazine, in an article "Will Merck Survive Vioxx?" on Raymond Gilmartin (CEO of Merck), wrote, "To which Gilmartin's fundamental response is: Stay the course." That is why so far no one has ever heard from Merck that it might have made a mistake or that it is sorry for all the tens of thousands of deaths and illnesses.

Expect a similar attitude and even a more aggressive response in the courtroom. It has already hired the likes of J. Michael Gaziano, a Harvard Medical School cardiologist, who will provide expert testimony that the so-called Vioxx victims died due to other causes. Merck will try to prove in each case that the victim may have suffered heart attack due to other reasons, such as smoking, obesity, etc.

How to prepare yourself for your Vioxx lawsuit?

1. Follow the advice of your Vioxx attorney and get organized as advised. Apart from new medical tests that may be needed, it will be helpful to have all the documents related to Vioxx, if you can find them. Your doctor/hospital should have all the documents and if they give you a hard time, ask your doctor to help you out.
2. If death of a loved one is involved, the situation is going to be more difficult because it is no longer possible to conduct certain tests and not all documents may have been preserved by you and the victim's doctor/hospital. Follow the advice of your attorney.
3. Even if you are totally truthful and have actually suffered from taking Vioxx, do not expect that you will win your lawsuit. If you can not convince the court and counter every argument that will be put forth by Merck attorneys, you may not get any thing at all. It is just the way our legal system work and apart from appeals, there is little that you can do.

Recommended article: What to do if you do not have any visible side effects from Vioxx?