Australians to sue Vioxx maker

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Lawyers in Australia are preparing to take legal action against Merck, the pharmaceutical giant that makes recalled painkiller Vioxx. Richard Meeran says his law firm is representing more than 100 people, who believe they have suffered heart-attacks as a result of using Vioxx.

A jury in the United States has just ordered Merck to pay more than $330 million in compensation to a woman whose husband died while taking Vioxx.
Merck continues to insist clogged arteries and not Vioxx caused the man's death, and the company is planning an appeal.

Mr Meeran says Australian proceedings are imminent, in either the Supreme Court or Federal Court. "Most of the people who took the drug were probably older people in their 50s and 60s, but that's not exclusively the case," he said.

Vioxx was taken by more than 20 million people worldwide before its withdrawal, including 300,000 people in Australia. It was pulled off Australian shelves last October.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1442227.htm

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1. The "War on Drugs" continues. nt