Vioxx is a brand name used by Merck & Co., Inc. ("Merck") to market and distribute rofecoxib tablets, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory prescription arthritis drug. Merck obtained FDA approval on Vioxx in approximately April 1999 via a New Drug Application on a fast-track, 6-month approval process. Merck began distribution and sale of Vioxx throughout the United States in approximately May 1999. Despite knowledge in its clinical trials and post-marketing reports associating Vioxx with hypertension and/or hypertension-related adverse health effects, Merck marketed and promoted Vioxx as safe and effective for persons with hypertension, or persons who had risk factors for stroke or cardiac problems.

On September 30, 2004 Merck has removed Vioxx from the market in all countries because it has been associated with heart attacks, stroke, cardiovascular injuries and other side effects. Merck has removed Vioxx after and and extended study showed that patients using Vioxx double their risk of having a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular injury. According to Merck, there are currently approximately 2 million people worldwide taking Vioxx and at least 84 million people have been prescribed Vioxx since it became available on the market in 1999.

If you or a loved one are currently taking, or have taken, the prescription drug Vioxx, you may be at risk for serious, even fatal health problems. Please seek medical attention to find out if your use of Vioxx has caused physical injury.

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VanDerGinst Honored by Induction

Attorney Dennis VanDerGinst, managing partner of VanDerGinst Law, P.C., has recently been inducted into The Academy of Trial Professionals. The Academy is a national organization consisting of lawyers whose trial experience has attained specific benchmarks. Only five Illinois attorneys were selected for induction this year.

VanDerGinst Elected to Board

Attorney Dennis VanDerGinst was recently elected in Boston, to the Board of Trustees for the Roscoe Pound Institute. The Institute, named for Roscoe Pound, Dean of the Harvard Law School from 1916-1936, promotes and protects access to the civil justice system through educational programs, publications, and research. Specifically, it strives to educate state and federal court judges, law professors and law students as well as the members of the bar in general.

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