Healthy Skepticism Library item: 8622

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Recent Verdicts Involving Vioxx
The Associated Press 2007 Feb 19
http://www.hurtbyadoctor.com/VIOXXNews.htm

Full text:

Recent Verdicts Involving Merck’s Former Painkiller Vioxx

Some recent outcomes of trials against Merck & Co. and its now-discontinued arthritis treatment Vioxx:
Jan. 18, 2007: In Los Angeles, A hung jury forced a mistrial in the cases of two men who blamed their heart attacks on Vioxx. The men argued that Vioxx was a substantial factor in their heart problems and that Merck failed to give sufficient warning of potential safety hazards of the drug.

Dec. 21, 2006: A judge in a Texas widow’s lawsuit over Vioxx reduced a $32 million jury award to about $7.75 million so that it conformed to state law. A state jury in April found Merck liable for the death in 2001 of a 71-year-old man who had a fatal heart attack within a month of taking the since-withdrawn painkiller.

Dec. 15, 2006: In Birmingham, Ala., Merck won its second Vioxx trial in less than a week when jurors rejected the claims of a 57-year-old man who blamed the drug for a 2001 heart attack. The jury deliberated just 90 minutes before siding with Merck in the lawsuit filed in 2005.

Dec. 13, 2006: In New Orleans, a federal jury ruled for Merck in rejecting a claim by a 50-year-old Tennessean who blamed Vioxx for his 2003 heart attack. Jurors answered “no” on a verdict questionnaire when asked if evidence showed that Merck failed to adequately warn the man’s doctors of any known risk posed by Vioxx, or that the lack of such a warning was a cause of the man’s heart attack.

Nov. 15, 2006: In New Orleans, a federal jury cleared Merck in the 2003 heart attack suffered by a Utah bank credit manager who had taken Vioxx for 10 1/2 months.

Sept. 26, 2006: In New Orleans, a federal jury deliberated three hours after a two-week trial before siding with Merck, finding there wasn’t enough evidence to link Vioxx to a Kentucky man’s heart attack in 2003.

April 21, 2006: In Rio Grande City, Texas, a state jury deliberated about seven hours over two days before finding Merck liable for the death of a 71-year-old man who had a fatal heart attack within a month of taking Vioxx and ordered the company to pay $32 million. The man had suffered from heart disease for more than 20 years.