What The Vioxx Mistrial Means Anyone Who Takes Medication

A federal jury in Houston couldn't decide whether Vioxx was responsible for causing a patient's heart attack. If a jury couldn't decide whether Vioxx was safe, what does it mean for you as a consumer?

The main claim against Merck, the pharmaceutical giant who manufactured and distributed Vioxx, was that Vioxx caused all sorts of cardiac complications, and Merck never told the doctors or patients about these significant side-effects.

Why is this so important to consumers who take prescription medication? To answer this question we need to understand how we prove that medication causes injuries.

In New York, we must prove that the pharmaceutical company knew about dangerous side effects and failed to tell the physicians and the public that their product was inherently dangerous. We must also prove that the failure to inform was a substantial factor in causing the patient's injuries. Finally, we must also show that the injuries are significant and permanent.

There is also a legal defense in New York called 'the learned intermediary doctrine'. This dooms many claims involving failure to warn about risks of a medication. The pharmaceutical companies use this legal defense by saying that they informed the physician about all the risks and benefits of the medication, and therefore they shouldn't be held responsible for any injuries the patient received. Since the physician is the 'learned' one, it would be the doctors' obligation whether to prescribe the medication to you and he'd know whether the medicine is right for you.

Let's turn now to Vioxx and why the jury mistrial is significant for you, the consumer.

As with all medication, there are known side-effects, even relatively 'harmless' medications such as over the counter Tylenol and other pain relievers. Just read the warning labels and you'll begin to see that such common pain relievers are filled with potential side-effects such as liver damage.

In the Vioxx case, the injured victim claimed that Merck failed to warn the doctors about the likelihood of serious side-effects like heart attacks. The argument was that if the company who manufactured the medicine didn't tell the doctor about the serious risk, how then could this doctor pass the information along to the patient? Also, how could the doctor correctly judge whether or not this particular medicine was the right one for the patient's complaints?

If you've taken a prescription medication in New York, and you believe that the medication caused you injury, you need to know 5 things-

(1) Whether the injuries you suffered were a known risk of the medicine,
(2) Whether the doctor who prescribed your medication knew that your injury was a potential risk of the medication,
(3) Whether the pharmacy that dispensed your medication, did it correctly,
(4) Whether there is any other explanation for your injuries, other than the medication, and
(5) Whether the injuries you suffered are permanent

To answer the original question, "If a jury couldn't decide whether Vioxx was safe, what does it mean for you as a consumer?" it means that you must be able to prove your case with a reasonable degree of probability using medical and pharmaceutical experts. You must be able to prove that the pharmaceutical company failed to warn doctors about the significant risks of your injury, that the injury was a cause of your injury, and that the injury is permanent.

In the Vioxx case, evidence revealed that certain medical studies showed Vioxx caused heart attacks, and that this information had never been made available to the doctors or the general public. However, the jury appeared to be deadlocked on Merk's responsibility to the consumer.

Veteran New York malpractice lawyer, Gerry Oginski, offers 4 important holiday tips to keep you from being a potential medication victim:

(1) When your doctor prescribes you medication, ask "What is it for," "Why are you giving me this prescription," "What are the side effects," "Will this interact with my other medications", "Are there other medications with less side-effects available?"

(2) When you arrive at your pharmacy to pick up your medication, don't just pay and race out the door. Take a moment to look at your medication bottle. Is it labeled correctly? Is your name on it, and not someone else? Open the bottle up and check to see what the pill looks like. If you've never taken this pill before, ask the pharmacist if they're sure this is right pill. (It's happened plenty of times where the pharmacist mixed up your pills with another prescription simply through careless error.)

(3) Read about the risks that come with your medication bottle. If you have no other choice but to take this medication then you understand the potential risks- even a small one.

(4) If there are alternative medications you can take, you must decide with your doctor whether the risk of taking the medication outweighs the benefits the medication has to offer.

As always, be an informed consumer. Doing so will minimize your risk of becoming a medication victim during this holiday season.

This release was published on openPR.