Special Report Monday November 08, 2004 Vioxx Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Merck in Illinois Source: PR Newswire Published: October 05, 2004 ILLINOIS - Attorneys for a Madison County resident on Tuesday announced the filing of a class action lawsuit against Merck & Company, alleging that the company defrauded consumers by promoting Vioxx as a safe painkiller. The plaintiff claims that Merck has unfairly profited by overstating the superiority of Vioxx, while downplaying its dangers. "Consumers paid excessively high prices for a drug that not only didn't deliver better results than over-the-counter painkillers, but also put them at risk for serious side effects," Plaintiff attorney Scott Hendler, founder of The Hendler Law Firm, said in a press release. "Merck has been aware of these dangers since at least 2000, but continued to aggressively market the drug until they could simply no longer get away with it." On September 30, 2004, Merck announced the withdraw of Vioxx from all markets worldwide after a study confirmed that it increases the risk of serious cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke. Since Vioxx was introduced to the market in 1999 over 105 million prescriptions have been filled for about 20 million consumers in the United States. Worldwide sales of Vioxx in 2003 were $2.5 billion. Read Full Story at PR Newswire Find a Vioxx Lawyer Vioxx Resources Merck Merck Clarifies Number of Patients and Prescriptions for VIOXX Merck Announces Voluntary Worldwide Withdrawal of VIOXX Merck Vioxx U.S. Food and Drug Administration U.S. Food and Drug Administration Vioxx Center FDA Public Health Advisory on Vioxx FDA Vioxx Questions and Answers U.S. Food and Drug Administration