Vioxx
Merck had Knowledge About Vioxx Risks Years Before Recall
U.S. News & World Report reports the very unsettling news that Merck, the manufacturer of defective arthritis drug Vioxx, knew that the drug caused serious health risks years before it was taken off the market. People who took Vioxx to relieve the discomfort of arthritis were at increased risk for stroke, heart attack and other serious health issues that could result in death. Merck had claimed their drug was perfectly safe to take regularly, but by the year 2000, there was mounting evidence of the dangerous side effects of the drug within a year of it being approved for sale in 1999.