Celebrex and Bextra Settlement Update

Bextra Celebrex Claims in Process

Celebrex, Vioxx and Bextra were similar popular anti inflammatory drugs until late in 2004. Vioxx was recalled over 8 years ago with the Bextra recall soon after. The drug Celebrex is still sold and used by people today but with strong risk warnings.

Class action claims related to all three of these drugs have settled. The deadline for submitting claims for settlement of the class action in Canada for Pfizer’s drugs Celebrex and Bextra was December 22, 2012. We are acting for some claimants for Celebrexa and Bextra, although most of our clients with similar claims relate to the drug Vioxx manufactured by Merck.  All 3 of these drugs are Cox-2 inhibitors which are a specific form of non steroidal anti inflammatory drug which is believed to have the effect of increasing the risk of users to have heart attacks or strokes.

We have submitted claims on behalf of our Bextra and Celebrex clients.  We now understand that there have been about 200 claims in total which is a surprisingly low number especially considering the widespread popular use of Celebrex.  Bextra was a new drug introduced shortly before the Vioxx recall and there were not very many people taking it. We understand that some claims including those submitted several months ago are still being “assessed” and that no claims have been paid to date. Since the deadline has passed for further claims we have received some claim assessments for our clients and for some we must send in additional material. The assessments we have so far on Bextra look good and those clients are pleased.

For the Vioxx claims we now have finalization of the settlement approval which will allow claims to be filed starting April 20, 2013. There are an estimated 1200 Vioxx claims that are to be submitted with our firm representing a substantial number of the people with Vioxx claims.  The Vioxx recall received considerable publicity with many Vioxx users being switched to Celebrex after. The Vioxx claims, which have now taken over 8 years without finalization of the settlement, was fought hard by Merck and had a much higher profile than the case related to Celebrex and Bextra.  Pfizer has been far more co-operative in dealing with claims and a settlement was reached about a year earlier with more generous terms to the settlement.

The current Bextra Celebrex status is a definite indicator that it may be some time before Vioxx claims are actually paid.  We are now thinking we will not see payments on Vioxx until early 2014.  We are optimistic that some Bextra and Celebrex claims will be paid soon.  Claims can be filed for Vioxx starting in the second half of April 2013 that process will remain open for 120 days until mid August 2013.  Payment of Vioxx claims will not take place until after the deadline when all of the claims have been assessed.  Payment is then made “pro-rata” based on a division of the total funds available for the settlement.

Tweet