Members of Parliament are upset that the drugmaker’s Vioxx $4.85 billion settlement extends only to people in the US and are calling for a deal that would compensate UK patients, The Times of London reports.

For now, Merck is refusing to strike similar deals with Vioxx users in 18 other countries, and with just six weeks to go until the cut-off for court action, the prospect of compensation for 500 UK patients is receding. No money is available for legal-aid claims and UK litigants, unlike those in the US, may have to pay Merck’s bills if they lose. “No win, no fee” lawyers have refused to take up the case because they regard it as too risky, the Times writes.

Representatives of Merck will be invited to discuss the issue with MPs from all parties this week by Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman. So far, 44 MPs have signed an early day motion saying that the situation is unjust. Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, has also received representations from MPs, and the Commons Health Select Committee has been asked to investigate, the Times continues.

“There appears to be a powerful case for a settlement along the same lines as the US,” Lamb tells the Times. “The fact that the settlement terms include a test to check people have been affected, a qualifying process, indicates to me potential culpability.”

Pamela Eaton, 71, from North Norfolk, says she was put on Vioxx after suffering from arthritis for years. “I’m 71 and I’ve never had high blood pressure,” she tells the Times. “Then, after taking Vioxx for three years, I had a coronary and had to have an operation. I feel what’s happened isn’t fair.”

Gerard Dervan, a partner at MSB Solicitors, says Merck had gone out of its way to exclude non-US nationals from its settlement and this was “manifestly unfair.” “It is terrible that people who took Vioxx on the advice of their GP that is was a safe product have ended up suffering heart attacks and strokes,” he says.

Last week, Merck disclosed that 44,000 of the approximately US 47,000 individuals who registered eligible injuries have submitted some or all of the materials that could qualify them for an interim payment in the $4.85 billion settlement. This would represent more than 93 percent of the eligible heart attack and stroke claims previously registered. You may recall that the deal stipulated at least a threshhold of at least 85 percent

Despite agreeing to pay out to some US patients, the drugmaker is refusing compensation for thousands of former US Vioxx users who claim other injuries such as dangerous chest pain, abnormal heart rhythms and similar conditions, the Times notes. Many of their cases continue.

Amy Rose, a Merck spokeswoman, tells the paper declines to say anything specific about patients in the UK or other country: “The US settlement applies only to qualifying US legal residents and those who allege that their MI (myocardial infarction) or ischemic stroke occurred in the United States.”