In a judgment released today, the Quebec Superior Court of Justice authorized a class action against pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Inc., based in New Jersey, and two Canadian subsidiaries of Merck.
The class action is brought on behalf of all Quebec residents who consumed VIOXX between October 1999 and September 2004, and who were damaged as a result. While other suits in Canada and the United States have been pending since Merck removed the product under consumer andgovernment pressure, this is the first certified action on behalf of VIOXX consumers in North America.
In the Quebec action, plaintiffs allege that VIOXX was causing significant cardiovascular events even as the defendants (Merck) aggressively marketed the brand to consumers and their medical professionals without full and fair disclosure of the cardiovascular risks. "Evidently there was a serious problem with the product and its testing or Merck would not have removed it", Claude Desmeules, counsel to theplaintiffs in Quebec, said shortly after the announcement today.
"We can now deal with the merits of the claims and put forward long-overdue evidence in support of those claims."
"Merck has set aside a massive war chest to defend each and every one ofthese actions," says Dimitri Lascaris, class action expert counsel, with Siskinds in Ontario. "Now we have the collective ability to seek compensation under Quebec law, without which, many injured parties would simply have been unable to pursue compensation."
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