Local group sues over Vioxx drug

By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter

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A class-action lawsuit was filed yesterday in King County Superior Court on behalf of people who have used the anti-arthritis drug Vioxx.

The painkiller was pulled from the market by its maker, Merck & Co. Inc., last month after studies showed the drug more than doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The lawsuit filed by attorney Mark Griffin on behalf of Brier resident Ken Yohe and others who have taken the drug for more than 18 months is believed to be the first such suit filed in the state.

Scores of similar suits have been filed nationwide since the drug was pulled off the market last month, however, and many more are expected. Hundreds of law firms have Web pages devoted to potential Vioxx class-action suits.

The King County lawsuit claims that the drug's manufacturer knew more than four years ago that Vioxx was associated with a higher rate of serious cardiovascular problems. According to the suit, numerous clinical studies have indicated that Vioxx has caused heart and blood-vessel problems.

But Merck "continued to maintain that Vioxx did not increase a user's risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke" even in the face of those studies, the suit claims.

Griffin said that because his client took the drug for more than a year and half, and therefore faces a higher risk, his health will have to be chronically and vigilantly monitored. "We think that Merck should pay for the cost of monitoring the health of the people who took Vioxx for more than 18 months and run the increased risk of cardiovascular problems," said Griffin.

Information Whom to contact: People who have been on the drug Vioxx for more than 18 months can get information about the lawsuit from attorney Mark Griffin of Keller Rohrback LLP at 206-623-1900 or mgriffin@kellerrohrback.com

The lawsuit doesn't specify a dollar amount to cover the damages it alleges.

The drug, which was initially billed as "super aspirin," was pulled from the market by Merck on Sept. 30 after a clinical trial intended to test the drug's efficacy as a cancer treatment revealed instead that patients on Vioxx experienced double the risk of cardiovascular problems compared with those on a placebo.

Merck said that since the drug's debut in 1999, Vioxx was prescribed to more than 84 million patients, and that as many as 2 million people worldwide were taking the drug at any given time.

The announcement by Merck that it would pull the drug came just two weeks after the Food and Drug Administration approved Vioxx to treat children.

The Vioxx studies also call into question the fate of two related anti-arthritis drugs, Celebrex and Bextra, which are both manufactured by Pfizer.

Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra all belong to a class of medications known as COX-2 inhibitors, which block an enzyme that causes pain and inflammation, without causing the stomach problems common to other painkillers.

But studies suggest that the same mechanism that made the drugs easier on the stomach also blocked a substance that prevents heart problems.

According Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen, Vioxx's problems have been well-known for years and the medicine was listed among the worst in the 2001 version of "Worst Pills, Best Pills."

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com.

Information from The Associated Press and Newsday was included in this report.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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