New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have filed a lawsuit against Merck & Co. Inc. accusing the drug manufacturer of hiding risks posed by the pain reliever Vioxx and thereby defrauding Medicaid of the money paid out for the prescriptions.
Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 because it significantly increased the risk of heart attack and stroke. The drug was approved for the treatment of osteoarthritis, dysmenorrhea, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine headaches and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
The action papers state that before they stopped selling the drug, Merck carried out a “concerted and tenacious campaign of false and fraudulent statements” to minimize the strength of the link between Vioxx and heart problems. This campaign continued up to one month before Merck stopped selling the drug. During that month, doctors in New York continued to prescribe Vioxx. Had those doctors been aware of the risks, they would not have prescribed the drug to their patients.