Merck has invited Vioxx class action lawsuits

Yes, that is what Merck has done since it got the approval of Vioxx and learned as early as 2000 that there were very serious adverse side effects from the drug. And Pfizer is doing it as we speak and is literally asking people to get ready to file Celebrex class action lawsuits. While the drug companies may blame Americans for being obsessed with class action lawsuits, were it not for their negligence, no one would waste their time going to a court.

As is very apparent to Vioxx victims, Merck has been aggressively attacking its past customers (those who took Vioxx) by telling them that they will not get a penny out of it and that it will do everything it can to make sure that Vioxx lawsuits do not get class action status. At the same time, Bush administration is about take away the rights of Americans to file class action lawsuits and shield drug makers from having to pay anything more than $250,000 even when it's proven that they negligently caused someone more than $250,000 of harm. Or in other words, this will end lawsuits against drug companies because personal-injury lawyers won't want to take on the risks and costs of such cases. If this bill passes, companies like Pfizer and Merck, now facing a flood of lawsuits because of Celebrex and Vioxx, won't have to worry. No wonder Pfizer is happily singing the glory of Celebrex while disturbing data about the drug continues to come out.

So does it still mean that Americans have nothing better to do than to file class action lawsuits? At least that is the impression you get if you hear the sales pitch for tort reform from the White House. In the case of Vioxx, it is no secret that tens of thousands of Americans have died and even more seriously injured simply because, as Dr. Eric Topol points out, Merck thought profits were more important than human life (and that too in a country where Americans are obsessed with the sanctity of life).

So it is not that Americans enjoy being in courts and filing lawsuits, it is that companies invite them to do so by not valuing the lives and health of Americans. Americans are smart enough to understand that mistakes will happen, particularly with new drugs, and some people might get ill and even die. But what shocks Americans is that a company will knowingly keep a deadly product on the market, as Merck did. And that too for as long as four years, according to research conducted by The Wall Street Journal.

So if you want to better understand why class action lawsuits are filed and have missed how the Vioxx recall story unfolded, just watch carefully how the Celebrex "recall" story is unfolding. Celebrex, like Vioxx, is a Cox-2 drug, and while conclusive evidence is not yet available to show if it as dangerous as Vioxx, there is some evidence to indicate that Celebrex increases the risk of heart attacks. Knowing this, Pfizer started an aggressive direct-to-consumer advertising campaign the same day Vioxx was recalled. Since then, in statement after statement (both written and in interviews by Pfizer executives) the company has tried to affirm the safety of Celebrex.

So what will happen when a study in the future might conclusively show that Celebrex is indeed a deadly drug? Like Merck, Pfizer might also end up attacking Celebrex patients, rather than apologizing for its unethical business practices. What other option will Americans have at that point if not to file Celebrex class action lawsuits? But by that time, Americans might very well lose their right to do so if the Bush administration has its way.

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