July 2005
Doctors sue Merck over Vioxx animal tests
Incriminating document to be revealed at D.C. news conference July 14
WASHINGTON--In a lawsuit to be filed this week, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and plaintiff Nancy Tufford allege that Merck wrongfully relied on animal tests that showed Vioxx to be safe while setting aside mounting evidence that Vioxx increases risk of cardiac events in human patients. PCRM has obtained previously undisclosed Merck data that form one of the cornerstones of the legal challenge.
WHAT: Release of previously undisclosed Vioxx data; announcement of lawsuit.
WHEN: Thursday, July 14, 10-11 a.m.
WHERE: National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C., Murrow Room
WHO:
- Neal D. Barnard, M. D., president and founder of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
- Dan Kinburn, Esq., associate general counsel for Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
- Muhammad Mamdani, PharmD, M.A., M.P.H., senior scientist and leader of the Drug Research Group at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, Ontario. Dr. Mamdani is the lead author of a recent study in The Lancet that links Vioxx to congestive heart failure.
- Nancy Tufford, a resident of Minneapolis who is suing Merck & Co. because she developed congestive heart failure while taking Vioxx. Ms. Tufford had no symptoms or history of heart problems before she began taking the drug in January 2002.
- The fifth panelist will be announced.
Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition. PCRM also conducts clinical research studies, opposes unethical human experimentation, and promotes alternatives to animal research.
RELATED LINKS
* PCRM Position Paper on Animal Research
http://www.pcrm.org/resch/anexp/position.html