May 29, 2007 11:05 AM
"Our firm has been watching the situation unfold over the past 4 years. In light of the recent findings which undeniably link Celebrex to greater heart-attack risks, it is time for Pfizer to act responsibly and pull the drug from the market," said Mr. Methvin at a recent press conference.
May 29, 2007 11:04 AM
A New Orleans jury in the second Multi-District Litigation (MDL) trial has awarded a $50 million compensatory damage verdict and a $1 million punitive damage verdict against Merck.
May 29, 2007 10:50 AM
Irvin Plunkett v. Merck & Co, Inc., to go to trial among cases pending in the federal Vioxx in New Orleans will begin on November 28, 2005. The announcement was made by Judge Eldon E. Fallon of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who is presiding over the Vioxx Multi-district Litigation (MDL).
May 29, 2007 10:36 AM
Jere Beasley, founding shareholder at the law firm taking the first Vioxx lawsuit to trial in May, Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C, called upon Merck to join him in asking Judge Rochester to lift a protective order which prohibits the release of protected information regarding the drug's dangers
May 29, 2007 10:30 AM
Merck had asked the Court to dismiss the lawsuit, contending that Mr. Rogers, who died of a heart attack after being prescribed Vioxx, never took the drug. Lawyers for Beasley Allen disputed Merck's claims and said that they had evidence that Mr. Rogers took Vioxx before he died.
May 29, 2007 10:27 AM
"Merck provided depositions of Mrs. Rogers and Dr. William Clancy, who treated her husband, to local and national press on April 12, in violation of the court's protective order. In fact, one reporter had the documents on this date apparently before it was even filed in court."
May 29, 2007 10:23 AM
The wrongful death complaint was filed in state court by Michael H. Allen, Administrator of the Estate of Nina Earline Ratliff, who was a resident of Tuscaloosa County. Ms. Ratliff died of complications due to Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), which she developed as a result of taking Celebrex.
May 29, 2007 10:21 AM
Law firm Beasley Allen, lead counsel for the first Vioxx lawsuit set for May, believes that Pfizer's Bextra, a COX-2 inhibitor, posed a dual danger to thousands of consumers before its withdrawal last week.
May 29, 2007 10:12 AM
One of the most popular in the COX-2 class, Vioxx - used by tens of millions of people worldwide - was pulled off the market last October. This decision came shortly after medical conference where FDA researcher David Graham showed higher doses of Vioxx correlated with a tripled risk of heart attack or sudden cardiac death compared to people who weren't taking any similar drug.
May 29, 2007 10:01 AM
In a pretrial order issued today, Judge Fallon of the United States District Court in Louisiana appointed Mr. Birchfield of Beasley Allen as co-lead counsel with regard to pending Vioxx products liability litigation.