Merck & Company has agreed to change its refund program for consumers who used its recently recalled prescription drug, Vioxx, Attorney General Hardy Myers said on Monday in a press release.

“Although we appreciated Merck’s decision to pull Vioxx off the shelves and provide refunds to consumers, the program was not only unduly burdensome, but it didn’t provide the consumers with adequate notice.”

The popular arthritis drug Vioxx was pulled from the market by Merck after a study confirmed that it increases a patients’ risk of heart attack and stroke after 18-months of use.

The original consumer refund program was designed to reimburse consumers for Vioxx they had on hand at the time of the recall. Among other things, the Merck program required consumers to return all unused Vioxx in its original packaging in order to qualify for a refund.

Shortly after Merck’s October announcement, Myers, joined by Attorneys General from Connecticut, Masschusetts, Michigan and Vermont, wrote the drug company with suggestions about how its refund program should be changed. The Attorneys General of Texas, Illinois and Ohio subsecquently joined the five original states to negotiate reform of the refund program. A second letter was sent on December 7 confirming the results of these negotiations.

“Not only were there too many hurdles to jump before a refund was possible but it excluded consumers who might have immediately destroyed the Vioxx either on doctors’ orders or because they were worried about keeping an unsafe drug in their medicine cabinets, ‘Myers explained.

Consumers seeking refunds for unused Vioxx may contact the Merck Refund Center (National Notification Center) at 1-800-805-9542 or online at www.vioxx.com.

(via State of Oregon, DOJ)