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400 British claimants are awaiting a ruling from an American court in New Jersey, which will decide if they can have their personal injury lawsuits against the pharmaceutical company Merck heard in US courts. Merck is fighting the ruling claiming that the foreign cases should be withdrawn and heard in the claimant's own country.

Vioxx was launched in 1999 as a medication for acute pain and arthritis. People in more than 80 countries where it was marketed found relief from pain when using the drug.

In September 2004, Merck announced that it was voluntarily withdrawing Vioxx from the market after realising that it had some serious side effects. They were in the middle of a three-year study designed to check the efficacy of Vioxx in the treatment of recurring colorectal polyps in patients with a history of colorectal adenomas. Half of the 2600 patients were given Vioxx and the other half given placebos. In the course of the study, researchers began to see that after 18 months of continuous use of the drug, the patients on the Vioxx were showing an increased chance of heart attack and stroke as compared to those on placebos. The study was stopped and the announcement to withdraw the drug was made. In 2003 alone, Vioxx brought in $2.5 billion for Merck.

In August of 2005, a Texas jury awarded the widow of a man who died suddenly after being on Vioxx a multi million-dollar settlement. Today, another American jury awarded a man who had a heart attack after taking Vioxx £5 million in damages. Six cases have been heard so far in American courts and of the six, three ruled in favour of the pharmaceutical company so it is not a certainty that the UK cases will end in a payout. Merck has argued that they have acted in good faith and at all times were transparent with their data. Raymond V. Gilmartin, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Merck at the time of the withdrawal of the drug said that they could have left the drug on the market with a warning label, but they felt that since there were other drugs that patients could choose from for pain, they didn't feel the need to leave it on the market.

500,000 UK citizens were prescribed Vioxx. Currently, there are 400 claimants seeking redress from Merck but legal experts believe that that number may rise. The claimants are not able to take Merck to court in the UK because they are unable to get insurers to fund a No Win - No Fee court case and they don't qualify for any type of legal aid. If the New Jersey court rules in the British claimants' favour each case will be heard alone in the American courts.