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British Vioxx Users File Claim in U.S. Court

By RONALD V. BAKER, Andrews Publications Staff Writer

Three Great Britain citizens have filed a complaint against Vioxx maker Merck & Co. in a New Orleans federal court, seeking class-action status on behalf of what they say are the thousands of their fellow countrymen who also used the arthritis drug.

Mark Bentley, John E. Davey and Thomas J. Jones have petitioned the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to represent British Vioxx users and assert claims of strict liability, negligence, unjust enrichment, and breach of implied and express warranties.

The plaintiffs also seek a medical monitoring program to track their allegedly increased risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market in September 2004 after research indicated it doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes among people using it for more than 18 months. The company now faces some 6,400 liability suits by former users of the drug.

Bentley sued on behalf of his father, Terence Bentley of Halifax, West Yorkshire, whom he says suffered a fatal heart attack in December 2004 after taking Vioxx for one year. According to the complaint, the elder Bentley took the drug in daily doses of 12.5 milligrams and, later, 25 milligrams.

Davey, a resident of Marlboro, Wiltshire, England, says he took Vioxx at similar varied dosages on and off for three and a half years before having a heart attack in July 2003 and continued to take the drug until August 2004.

Jones makes a similar claim, saying he continued to take the pain reliever "through on or about 2003" despite having a heart attack Feb. 14, 2002. He says he took the drug for two years before having the attack.

According to the petitioners, the certification of a class of English Vioxx users would be a practical utilization of judicial resources because there are thousands of potential members, they share common questions of law and fact, and the "claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defense of the English class."

The men say that among the questions to be asked on behalf of their class are whether:

  • • "English persons who took Vioxx are at increased risk of developing serious injuries, including, but not limited to heart attack and stroke";
  • • Merck failed to disclose the health dangers and risks during its marketing and sale of the drug; and
  • • The company "adequately tested Vioxx prior to distribution and sales in the English market place."

    The proposed class, as the petitioners describe it, would include "all English persons, their estates, administrators or other legal representatives, who were prescribed, purchased, used and/or ingested the drug Vioxx, manufactured, distributed and/or sold by defendant."

    The original version of the suit was first filed May 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. All federal court Vioxx liability lawsuits against Merck were forwarded to the Eastern District of Louisiana last year for a consolidated, multidistrict litigation proceeding. The first trial to take place as part of the Vioxx MDL ended in a hung jury last month and is scheduled for retrial beginning Feb. 6.

    The Chicago law firm representing the plaintiffs, Kenneth B. Moll & Associates, has already filed similar separate class-action suits against Merck on behalf of former Vioxx users in Israel, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Australia, Canada and Italy, according to its Web site.


    Bentley et al. v. Merck & Co. Inc., No. 2:05-md-1657, amended class-action complaint filed (E.D. La. Jan. 3, 2006).
    Drug Recall Litigation Reporter
    Volume 09, Issue 08
    01/09/2006

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