EDINBURG, Texas, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The following press release is being issued by the Law Office of Ricardo A. Garcia:
A South Texas woman who had to undergo open-heart surgery after using the drug Vioxx for less than a year to treat her arthritis pain has sued Merck & Co., Inc. pharmaceutical company in district court here.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday by Olga Sanchez, 67, of Pharr, is among the first in Texas of what is expected to be a torrent of patient lawsuits over Merck’s failure to warn consumers that the popular “super aspirin” causes a four- to five-fold increase in heart attacks.
Merck pulled Vioxx from store shelves worldwide on Sept. 30.
“Merck pharmaceutical company aggressively marketed this drug directly to consumers knowing it carried significant health risks. In doing so, Merck actively deceived consumers, which is a violation of Texas law,” said Ricardo Garcia, Sanchez’s attorney.
Merck has said that cardiac problems in its test groups surfaced only after 18 months of use. However, Garcia pointed out that Mrs. Sanchez had been using the drug less than a year.
“I believe we will be seeing more of this across the country as Vioxx users become aware of problems with this drug,” Garcia said.
Merck has known since 2000 as the result of one its own clinical trials that Vioxx carries a four- to five-fold risk of causing high blood pressure and heart attacks in users. Researchers have warned the risk may be even higher because the clinical trial did not involve any patients already suffering from heart disease. As a result, many health insurers have refused to cover the drug, and many doctors, researchers and consumer watchdogs have openly warned against taking the drug.
The lawsuit accuses Merck of negligence for failure to warn consumers about potential risks or to adequately test the drug, knowingly distributing a defective product, misrepresenting or actively concealing known risks from the public, and violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Texas Food, Drug, Alcohol and Cosmetic Act.
Two doctors also are included as defendants in the lawsuit: Dario Arango, M.C., and Emery L. Suderman, D.O.
More information is available at http://www.ragarcialaw.com/ . CONTACT: Mike Kelly 512-327-6788
Law Office of Ricardo A. Garcia
CONTACT: Mike Kelly, +1-512-327-6788, for Law Office of Ricardo A.Garcia
Web site: http://www.ragarcialaw.com/
