mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. speaker , i would like to read a couple of cases here . 
mrs. higgins xz4006410 of tennessee was a 39-year-old woman who died of a sudden heart attack after taking vioxx . 
she was the mother of a 9-year-old son . 
when she was diagnosed with the early onset of rheumatoid arthritis , vioxx was prescribed . 
she had no former cardiac problems or family history . 
according to her medical records , mrs. higgins xz4006410 was in otherwise excellent health ; but on september 25 , 2004 , she died of a sudden heart attack , less than a month after she started taking vioxx . 
she was buried on the very day in september that merck took vioxx off the market . 
on october 28 , 2004 , her husband , monty , filed a claim against merck in the superior court of new jersey , atlantic city division . 
why new jersey ? 
this couple is from tennessee . 
because that is the state where merck is headquartered . 
in an interview on `` 60 minutes , '' mr. higgins xz4006410 said , `` i believe my wife would be here if merck had decided to take vioxx off the market just 1 month earlier. '' then there is richard `` dickie '' irvin of florida who was a 53-year-old former football coach and president of the athletic booster association . 
he had received his college football scholarship and was inducted into the school 's football hall of fame . 
he went on to play in canadian league football until suffering a career-ending injury . 
in addition to coaching , he worked at a family-owned seafood shop where he was constantly moving crates of seafood . 
he rarely went to see a doctor and had no major medical problems . 
in april of 2001 , mr. irvin was prescribed vioxx for his football knee injury from years ago . 
approximately 23 days after he began taking vioxx , mr. irvin died from a sudden , unexpected heart attack . 
an autopsy revealed that his heart attack was caused by a sudden blood clot . 
this is the exact type of injury that has been associated with vioxx use . 
mr. irvin and his wife of 31 years had four children and three grandchildren . 
i could read more cases involving vioxx , but most people in this house , mr. speaker , probably agree with me that merck should be held accountable if they knew about the harmful effects of vioxx . 
the class action section of this bill , however , would allow merck and other corporate defendants to delay their day of reckoning for years and years and years ; and justice for these individuals ' families would be delayed ; and justice delayed is justice denied . 
again , this bill should be defeated . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
