Legal fight for Vioxx compensation is "a matter of principle" - Farron

3.00.00pm GMT Wed 30th Jan 2008

Over the weekend, Tim Farron MP met with a constituent who is one of the many hundreds of innocent victims of the arthritis drug, Vioxx. Today Mr Farron has called upon fellow MPs to stand up for the rights of those victims, and has written to the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, demanding that money be made available to mount a legal challenge against the producers of the drug.

Vioxx has been shown to double the likelihood of users suffering heart disease and of having a stroke. The manufacturers of the drug have made an out of court compensation case to American victims, but there is no compensation available to UK and other non-US sufferers and the legal aid authorities have so far refused to make legal aid available.

Tim Farron MP said:

"This is a disgraceful state of affairs. The Government is failing those whose lives have been destroyed by taking Vioxx. The Government should act now to secure funding to mount a legal challenge, to try and redress the immense suffering caused by this drug. It is a matter of principle that those who have seen their health destroyed by this drug should see some justice."