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  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  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  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 .  