Oregon Legislature Considers Vioxx Liability
Currently, Oregon law requires that lawsuits for people harmed by a faulty product be brought within two years of the injury itself. For Vioxx users, this law protects Merck, the medication's developer. However, on July 1, Oregon Senate passed a bill allowing Oregonians to sue Merck after legislators realized that some users harmed by the Cox-2 inhibitor might fall outside the statute of limitation. Some users were harmed more than two years ago but only learned of the potential harm in 2004 when Merck announced it would pull the painkiller from the market.
The Senate Bill, SB 1011, first reached the floor in late April but was voted down when backers were unable to persuade a 16 th senator in the 30-member chamber that citizens should be able to sue for damages.
Sen. Frank Morse, R-Albany, helped resurrect the legislation when he decided to back the bill he initially opposed. Morse said he changed his opinion after asking himself if the Legislature would have enacted the current law had it been aware of the Vioxx situation.
“Knowing the information that we have today . . . would we have passed that bill? I don't think so,” Morse told The Register-Guard .
SB 1011 would allow suits for pre-2004 injuries to be filed within two years of the discovery of harm, or within three years if the harm was fatal—the same standards in place for product liability cases from 2004 forward. The change would only apply to people who used a Cox-2 inhibitor.
Senators opposed to the bill said they didn't want to unleash more litigation that would drive up the cost of health care. Others claimed it is unfair to change the rules retroactively. The bill appeared after much criticism was raised regarding how long Merck waited to reveal the drug's risks.
The bill has been sent to the house where supporters expect it to face difficulties against the Republican majority