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Linda Akers stays away from her grandchildren's soccer games. She doesn't take the kids to the museum, either. She quit the job she loved, working as an X-ray technologist. … Akers maintains the heart attack that ruined her health four years ago was caused by her daily use of Vioxx, the arthritis pill taken off the market last September after a clinical trial showed increased risk of heart attack and stroke. She is among thousands of former Vioxx users and their families suing the drug's New Jersey manufacturer, Merck & Co., in what could turn out to be one of the biggest product liability cases in history. … "I am looking to show how Merck's cavalier attitude at best toward patient safety resulted in a devastating injury," Davis said. "Both physically and psychologically, Linda Akers has paid a terrible price having been prescribed the wrong pain medication." … Frank M. McClellan, a professor at Temple University's Beasley School of Law who specializes in drug-product liability, said plaintiffs must show Merck breached its duty by failing to warn about Vioxx's risks, or by failing to test the product adequately. "The pivotal issue is what Merck knew about the risks associated with the drug and when it knew it," McClellan said. "That is going to be the critical determination as to whether they should have warned earlier."
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