According to the Canadian study now online, A quarter of those in that study who suffered an acute MI did so within two weeks of the patient's first Vioxx prescription. This, according to Linda Levesque, a McGill doctoral student in epidemiology and biostatistics, the authoer of that study.
According to an article online: Chris Placitella an attorney investigating Vioxx cases will be looking at the Canadian study.
He said, "It certainly lends support for the plaintiffs' claim that short-term duration use of Vioxx can cause cardiac events. It also will cause us to go back and reevaluate some of the cases we rejected because of very short-term use after we have the opportunity to review the results of the study with our experts." Link.
That same article quotes John Thomas, a health law professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law, in Hamden, Conn. as suggesting that the McGill will probably lead to more lawsuits.
My comment: I don't see it leading to more lawsuits. With less than five months before the statutes of limitations in two year states runs, there simply is not enough time to analyze this study, find the doctors who will help a case, and file a short term use case. By short term I mean less than three months.
