Pittsburgh Woman files Vioxx Lawsuit

An article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review By David Conti states that a 54 year old Pittsburgh woman, Saundra Southern, has filed suit against Merck, the makers of Vioxx. She is seeking unspecified damages for what her lawyers described as "reckless indifference to the interest of the consumers."

Mrs. Southern took Vioxx for arthritis from September 2001 until she suffered a stroke in February of 2004. She now has partial paralysis of her left side. The lawsuit contends that Merck knew about the increased risk of heart problems in Vioxx patients as early as 2000. "She thought Vioxx would help her, and it ended up almost killing her," her attorney Peter J. Payne said Tuesday.

Related story: Illinois Vioxx Suit Filed