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States Win Expansion of Vioxx Refund Program

December 14, 2004
Under pressure from eight states, pharmaceutical giant Merck has agreed to significantly alter its consumer refund program for unused Vioxx, the popular prescription pain medication the company withdrew from global markets earlier this year.

Consumers seeking a refund for unused Vioxx should contact the Merck Refund Center (National Notification Center) at 1-800-805-9542. Additional refund information can be found here.

“It is crucial that Merck’s refund program for Vioxx be as flexible as possible to ensure that refunds for all unused medication are available to consumers,” Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said. “It is my hope that the Vioxx refund program will be able to accomplish its goal of refunding the necessary money to every eligible consumer.”

Merck announced the immediate withdrawal of Vioxx on September 30, 2004, due to reports that the drug substantially increased some users’ risks of heart attack and strokes. At that time, approximately 1.6 million Americans were taking the drug.

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After Merck announced it was withdrawing Vioxx from the market, the company created a consumer refund program. The program was designed to reimburse consumers for Vioxx they had on hand at the time of the recall. However, the program required consumers to return all unused Vioxx to Merck to qualify for a refund.

Madigan and the Attorneys General for the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Vermont became concerned that the refund program contained too many hurdles for consumers to jump before they could receive reimbursement. The AGs contacted Merck and asserted that the refund program could unfairly exclude consumers who might have immediately destroyed Vioxx either on doctors’ orders or because they were worried about keeping an unsafe drug in their medicine cabinets.

As a result, Merck has now agreed to significantly alter its consumer refund program for unused Vioxx, effective December 10, 2004. Specifically, Merck has agreed to do the following for former Vioxx users:

• Allow consumers who destroyed unused Vioxx to certify in writing that they had unused Vioxx on September 30, 2004, but that they later destroyed the product under doctors’ orders or otherwise;

• Allow consumers to file claims for a refund by March 31, 2005 (the previous deadline was December 31, 2004);

• Upon request, provide consumers who still have Vioxx with prepaid UPS mailers that Merck can arrange to pick up at consumers’ homes to avoid the consumer having to take the mailer to a UPS facility or drop box;

• Directly contact any consumers whose refund claims were rejected because the consumers did not return the product and inform those consumers they would be eligible to make a refund claim without returning the product.

• Make a good faith effort to notify consumers about the refund program in future advertisements or print notices about Vioxx;

• Through Merck’s sales staff, contact rheumatologists and primary care doctors who would have prescribed Vioxx with information about the modified refund program that the doctors can then distribute to patients that were taking Vioxx; and

• Work with HMOs and pharmacies to mail out updated refund notices to consumers who purchased Vioxx and who may be eligible for a product refund.

The Attorneys General noted the changes do not in any way impact potential claims regarding marketing and promotion of Vioxx.

Vioxx, also known as rofecoxib, belongs to a sub-group of non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), called COX-2 inhibitors. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) originally approved Vioxx in 1999 to treat arthritis pain, menstrual pain and other severe pain in adults. The FDA subsequently approved Vioxx as a treatment for rheumatoid for adults, and later for use by children. Merck marketed Vioxx as being gentler on the stomach than other pain relief medication.

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