Texas State Attorney General Greg Abbott announced today that the state is suing Merck & Co., manufacturers of the arthritis painkiller Vioxx, alleging it willfully misrepresented its studies and physicians’ concerns that Vioxx may increase the risk of heart problems and strokes in patients treated with the drug. The state accuses Merck of violating the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act when it pushed the state to include Vioxx on its list of prescription drugs covered by the state’s Medicaid program.

The state seeks coverage of the state’s cost to cover more than 700,000 prescriptions for Vioxx for over 175,000 patients, damages that could exceed $250 million. Texas state law allows the State Attorney General to seek triple damages for acts of fraud. Merck recalled Vioxx in September 2004 due to its link to heart attacks and strokes in numerous studies. Abbott stated the company as a prime example of the “drive for profit steamrolling its duty to be safe,” and added, “the people of Texas have been cheated and defrauded by Merck.”

Source: Jim Vertuno, Associated Press, “Texas sues Merck over safety of Vioxx,” Houston Chronicle, June 30, 2005.