Kenneth B. Moll & Associates, a Chicago law firm, on Tuesday said it filed the first worldwide Vioxx class action lawsuit against Merck & Co., on behalf of all patients who were prescribed the arthritis drug.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, is seeking to recover damages for patients who were injured or died as a result of their use of Vioxx.

On September 30, 2004, Merck announced the withdraw of Vioxx from all markets worldwide after a study confirmed that it increases the risk of serious cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes.

Merck estimates that over 24 million patients have been prescribed the drug worldwide.

In addition, the lawsuit requests that a medical monitoring fund be established to enable people who have taken Vioxx to monitor the existence of dangerous side effects.

Mr. Moll said he is concerned that thousands of people have been injured by the drugs and are not aware of their injuries.

“A primary goal of the Vioxx Class Action is to inform consumers and physicians worldwide of the potentially deadly side effects of Vioxx,” Mr. Moll said.

(via Business Wire)