Former Vioxx user planning to sue

The painkiller Vioxx continues to cause former and current patients taking the drug to suffer, and many are taking their stories to the courts with the realization that a drug which was supposed to help may have actually harmed them.
Jacksonville attorney Cy Jenkins is one of those people, and he currently has a lawsuit pending against the maker of the drug.
With seriousness and concern, Jenkins displayed a bottle of nitroglycerin he had in his pocket, which he is prepared to take at the signs of a heart attack.
“I walk around now with a bottle of nitroglycerin in my pocket, because I just don't know if I will have another heart attack,” Jenkins said.
Unaware of exactly how Vioxx has damaged his body, Jenkins lives in fear for his life. His medical bill of $130,000 has also damaged more than his pocketbook.
“I can't get insurance now,” he said. “Merck should have disclosed this before. I know I'll never be the same, because of it, and my family will never be the same.”
On Sept. 30, 2004, Merck & Co., the manufacturer of Vioxx, announced a world-wide recall of the drug after a study revealed it could cause serious cardiovascular problems, including heart attack and stroke, if taken for 18 months or longer.
It is the largest drug recall in history, according to the Web site www.vioxxnews.com.
Jenkins began taking Vioxx in May 2001.
“I took Vioxx for back problems on and off for two years,” Jenkins said.
Then Jenkins woke up with a tingling sensation, and once at the hospital, he discovered he'd had a heart attack.
Fifteen months later, Jenkins suffered another heart attack.
“Doctors said there was no evidence when I had the other one of a blockage. I had taken Vioxx before the heart attacks and in-between them. I can't understand why there were no indications of another blockage 15 months before,” Jenkins said.
In 2000, the Vioxx Gastrointestinal Outcomes Research compared Vioxx and the traditional non-steroidial anti-inflamatory drug naproxen among 8,000 patients and found the risk of cardiovascular problems, including heart attack, chest pain, stroke, blood clots and sudden death, was more than two times higher in the Vioxx group than in the control group, according to the Web site.
Despite findings, the company continued to “aggressively market” the drug.
“The mainline is this isn't just a corporate money thing. The company was dealing with lives, and they should have disclosed the information sooner,” Jenkins said.
According to the Web site, the Federal Food & Drug Administration released information in November 2004 which indicated Vioxx may have contributed to at least 27,785 heart attacks or sudden cardiac deaths from 1999 to 2003.
About 20 million people took the once-popular painkiller, and the company faces billions in potential payouts stemming from about 7,000 pending state and federal lawsuits.
In the first Vioxx lawsuit in Texas, more than $253 million was awarded on Aug. 19, 2005, to the widow of a Vioxx user who died of fatal arrhythmia. In the second lawsuit, since the plaintiff had only taken Vioxx for two months, Merck won the case, and during another trial, the company disclosed the information about the drug, and a mistrial was declared, Jenkins said.
Thousands of other cases across the nation are pending, according to the Web site.
“Vioxx has changed my life,” Jenkins said. “I would encourage people to consult with an attorney if they are taking it, especially if they've had a heart attack.”