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Vioxx Verdict
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In a Boston Globe Op-Ed (“Vioxx Verdict’s Dark Side,”August 23, 2005), Analysis Group academic affiliates A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell discuss the potential negative impacts on consumers of the recent Vioxx verdict in Texas. Possible effects of the verdict, which involved $229 million in punitive damages on top of a $24 million base award, include higher consumer prices for goods and services; discouragement of product development and withdrawal of effective products from the market; and undue caution on the part of drug producers and medical practitioners. The authors cite the view held by many economists that damages awards should not be excessive unless a company has the chance to escape liability. “In all,” they conclude, “the lesson to be drawn from the Vioxx case is that if the Vioxx award is writ large, it will probably do more harm to consumers than good – presumably not the intention of the Vioxx jury.”
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WINDSOR, ON, Feb. 17 /CNW/ - Personal injury lawyer Greg Monforton, http://www.gregmonforton.com senior partner of Greg Monforton & Partners, is available for interviews regarding the imminent New Orleans Vioxx verdict. Monforton represents hundreds of Canadians who suffered heart attacks or strokes while taking Vioxx. Monforton is certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in civil litigation. He is ... President-Elect of the prestigious Ontario Trial Lawyers Association. Greg Monforton can be reached directly at 519-817-6900 or 519-258-6490.
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The consumer-fraud verdict will help Vioxx patients in a class-action lawsuit over Vioxx filed by health maintenance organizations, insurers, and unions, said plaintiffs' attorney Christopher Seeger. He said Higbee, who is overseeing 5,000 Vioxx cases, should apply the findings of the McDarby jury to the class-action case, which he said could be worth $10 billion.
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The Vioxx verdict therefore underlines the need for more ambitious tort reform. On the specific issue of medical risk, it is appropriate that companies manipulating clinical trials, or withholding information about side-effects, should face sanction… But when a company has faithfully adhered to the regulatory processes, it should enjoy a greater degree of protection from liability than it does today.
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"The Vioxx litigation is not going to turn on any single verdict," said Thorpe. "Mass tort litigation is fought over the long haul, not the short term. There will be appeals, whether they win or lose. If they win, it will restore some order to the process and give some credibility to their science arguments."
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Vioxx Verdict