"Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility."Ambrose Bierce
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Acai Berry Making for a Healthy Heart
Acai is a new fruit from Brazil that offers vital nutritional benefits for people over 40 years of age. The Acai contains 33 times the cholesterol fighting anthocyanin than a glass of red wine, a Daily Value (DVS) of calcium, twice the DVS at the ...
Health - Off Label Prescription Drugs
Off Label Prescription Drugs for Acne Acne is the most common skin disorder affecting millions of people each year. Acne usually affects teenagers due to hormones that over produce oil in the oil glands of pores in the face. These pores get clogged with ...
How to Gain a Good Self-Esteem - the Easy Way
Need more self-esteem? - I thought so. Just about all of us would like to see some degree of improvement in the way we perceive ourselves. If only there was a magic pill that would make us feel bold, smart, rich, beautiful, and cute all at the same ...
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In September, 2004, pharmaceutical giant Merck voluntarily withdrew its painkilling medication Vioxx from the market. Studies show that Vioxx increases the risk of heart attack and stroke among patients who have used the drug for longer than 18 months. Vioxx, a drug from a family of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors, is one of only a few drugs specifically designed to minimize inflammation while avoiding the stomach disorders long associated with other anti-inflammatory medications. Since its introduction in 1999, Vioxx has been a huge success, and sales of the drug worldwide topped $2.5 billion in 2003. That is certainly a great deal of money, but it pales when compared to the amount that Merck stands to lose through product liability lawsuits, which will soon come to court. As of this writing, several thousand lawsuits have been filed nationally, but attorneys estimate that the total number of lawsuits filed could reach a staggering 100,000.
One hundred thousand lawsuits is certainly a formidable number, but that figure could represent only half of the number of lawsuits related to COX-2 inhibitors. Earlier this year, Pfizer voluntarily withdrew its similar medication Bextra from the market, as studies linked the use of Bextra to increased heart attack risk and to a rare skin disorder known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. Bextra,
another drug in the family of COX-2 inhibitors, works very similarly to Vioxx, and many patients who formerly took Vioxx switched to Bextra after the former was removed from the market last fall. Given that sales of Bextra rose to near Vioxx levels before it was removed from the market, it seems likely that the number of lawsuits filed by patients who claim to have been harmed by their use of Bextra could eventually equal the number of Vioxx lawsuits.
Two hundred thousand is a staggering number of lawsuits, and unless they are consolidated into just a few class-action suits, they could keep our courts working on little else for the next decade. Patients who believe that they may have been harmed through the use of either Bextra or Vioxx would be well advised to contact an attorney who specializes in pharmaceutical lawsuits now. The wait for a resolution in court , particularly for Vioxx lawsuits, could be a very long one. Those who file quickly may get the fastest results.
About the Author
©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including Bextra-Info.net, a site devoted to the withdrawn drug Bextra and StructuredSettlementHelp.com, a site devoted to structured settlements.
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 Drugs seized from porn stash - Norristown Times Herald
COURTHOUSE — Several pounds of crystal methamphetamine with a street value of $700,000 was seized from a Montgomery County drug trafficker who hid the drugs inside DVD cases included in his pornography collection, authorities alleged. “Porn stash ...
Operation boosts stem cell hopes - Financial Times
The pioneering transplant of a "tissue-engineered" human airway, using the patient's stem cells, is expected to boost prospects for the wider uptake of such advanced treatments, scientists and doctors said yesterday. Claudia Castillo, a Colombian ...
Mexico accuses ex-drug czar of taking cartel money - Aiken Standard
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico accused its former drug czar Friday of taking $450,000 from a cartel he was supposed to destroy, going public with a scandal that deals a serious blow to the country's U.S.-backed drug war. Noe Ramirez is the highest-ranking law ...
Chile, Mexico Call to Avoid Social Collapse - La Prensa Latina
Santiago de Chile, Nov 21 (Prensa Latina) The Presidents of Chile and Mexico, Michelle Bachelet and Felipe Calderon respectively, coincided here on the idea that the economic crisis might mean a setback in the achievements obtained in the struggle ...
Cholera outbreak strikes Zimbabwe - BBC Africa
While the disease is endemic in Zimbabwe, it seems this will be the worst outbreak since 2000, Michel Van Herp of the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told the BBC. The WHO said that tackling the problem would be difficult because of the ...
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