Victims of Vioxx deserve compensation says Farron

4.28.00pm GMT Tue 16th Dec 2008

Tim Farron raised the plight of his constituent, David Jones of Elterwater, in parliamentary Health Questions today. Mr Jones is one of hundreds of British victims of serious side effects from the drug Vioxx.

Following last week's landmark legal decision which ruled that the anti-arthritis drug marketed as Vioxx had contributed to the ill health of a Cambridge pensioner, local MP Tim Farron has called on the Government to pressurise the pharmaceutical companies to provide compensation for all the patients involved in the Vioxx trials.

The manufacturers of the drug, Merck Sharp and Dohme, have issued over $4.5billion in out of court payments to American victims following a number of similar high profile court cases in the United States.

Mr Farron, who has a number of constituents who have suffered heart attacks after taking Vioxx, spoke today on the floor of the House of Commons about the injustice of the many hundreds of innocent victims who had yet to receive any compensation.

Commenting Mr Farron said:

"There is something fundamentally unjust that the patients who took Vioxx and have suffered ill health in the US have been awarded over $4.5billion in compensation, whilst those in the UK haven't received a single penny.

"In the past the pharmaceutical companies have been able to play duck and cover behind the legal system. But after last week's court ruling there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel for the many patients like my constituent Mr David Jones, who have suffered severe health problems as a result of taking Vioxx.

"Now that the precedent has been set, it's important that the Government seizes the opportunity to pressure the pharmaceutical companies to give the victims of Vioxx the compensation they deserve."