Posted on 09/17/2007 10:58:49 PM PDT by neverdem
Seeking to recoup tens of millions spent by government-financed health programs on prescriptions for Vioxx, New York State and New York City joined yesterday in filing a lawsuit against Merck, the drug’s maker, which withdrew the painkiller from the market in 2004 because of dangerous side effects.
The lawsuit, filed yesterday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, accuses Merck & Company of intentionally concealing the dangers of Vioxx, and therefore defrauding the state Medicaid program, which paid for the prescriptions. The drug was used to treat arthritis and migraines but led to a high risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Several other states have filed similar lawsuits against Merck — more than 25,000 suits have been brought so far — seeking reimbursement for taxpayer dollars spent on purchasing Vioxx and on treating patients for its side effects. The suits have focused on drug pricing and safety, involving both consumer and Medicaid fraud.
“Merck’s irresponsible and duplicitous conduct endangered the health of New Yorkers and wasted our tax dollars,” Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement. “Even as evidence was piling up showing just how dangerous this drug was, Merck put profits above all else.”
New York was the seventh state — after Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Utah and Texas — to file suits seeking, essentially, a refund from Merck for Medicaid expenditures.
Between 1999, when Vioxx went on the market, and 2004 when it was withdrawn, Medicaid, the state insurance program for the poor, and the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Program spent more than $100 million on...
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In 2004, New York City brought a federal lawsuit against 44 drug companies, including Merck, and their subsidiaries accusing them of overcharging the city’s Medicaid program by millions of dollars by inflating drug prices. That suit is pending, city officials said...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This should be interesting.
It was the only arthritis medicine I could tolerate.
Now I just have pain pills to help me get through the night.
The other night I was up with pain and finally took a pain pill, but before it got me to sleep I started trying to win the Miss South Carolina title in my posts.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
“The drug was used to treat arthritis and migraines but led to a high risk of heart attacks and strokes.”
I’d rather have you here than not! I have bursitis in my hip and my doctor prescribed this drug, but my insurance denied it so I never got it.
Merck is the company that manufactures the controversial “Gardasil” vaccine. A lot of money has been spent to have Gardasil a mandated vaccine for young girls. Vaccines have a certain “immunity” to lawsuits (no pun intended) due to changes in the law dating back to the ‘80s.
Follow the money.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9F0DE3DA1730F933A15751C1A9639C8B63
http://thehill.com/business—lobby/immunity-sought-as-avian-flu-shadow-approaches-2005-10-12.html
My best friend was taking it. He said it worked so well he was willing to take the risk.
I'm with your friend. It worked great for me and didn't mess up my stomach. I remember looking up from my desk one day and telling Mr G "Hey, I feel like myself!" I was crushed when they dropped it.
Tell you what.... why don't we offer to buy whatever NY has left over?
Thanks for the ping!
My fingers have become knarled. I drop things because I can’t hold onto them without concentrating due to the always present pain. And that’s just my hands....
Yes, I’d be happy to help buy up left over pills.
But New York is sueing for money they spent on pills that people have already taken, if I read this article correctly.
That “high risk” of heart attack and stroke is what? one in 100,000?
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