Given the monstrous size and profitability of drug companies,
some plaintiff lawyers are considering focusing more of their
practice on drug litigation. In fact, shortly after Merck's
announcement of the Vioxx recall, some large plaintiff firms
started aggressive media campaigns aimed at bringing in prescription
drug injury victims. The media blitz has been non stop. Billboards,
TV, web marketing, radio, and direct mail are just some of
the marketing vehicles that attorneys have used to try and
find new cases for them to work on. Many plaintiff law firms
are no longer focusing on chasing run of the mill car accidents.
Some of them have gone so far as to reposition themselves
as “drug recall lawyers,” seeing that the future
of their practice may be shaped by the initial outcome of
these new pharmaceutical cases.
When Merck chose to withdraw Vioxx, the CEO stated that a
voluntary recall was the responsible course of action. Prior
to pulling Vioxx from the market, Merck was spending $500
Million per year on advertising Vioxx. Vioxx is classified
as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID. However,
Vioxx belongs to a new family of NSAIDs called “COX-2
inhibitors.” There are not many COX-2 inhibitors on
the market in the US: Bextra and Celebrex may be the only
other two.
Both the number of potential Vioxx plaintiffs and award amounts
of the lawsuits are projected to be extremely large. The investment
bank S.G. Cowan recently estimated that eventually more than
600,000 plaintiffs could file suit in the Vioxx case. Furthermore,
some investment banks think that plaintiffs may file for more
than $10Billion in damages in years to come. Even the national
TV networks have covered the Vioxx withdrawal. A November
2004 story on the Vioxx withdrawal appeared on CBS News' 60
Minutes. The CBS story implied that the US Justice Department
is conducting an investigation and the Securities and Exchange
Commission is looking into Merck's conduct. Given the media
coverage of the Vioxx withdrawal and the number of people
who were prescribed Vioxx, there may be many new “Drug
Recall Firms” founded in years to come.
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About the Author
Richard Martin is a contributing writer at LegalClips.com.
LegalClips.com has Personal Injuryarticles. LegalClips.com
is a collection of lawyer articles and other resources.
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