Drugs Company still ahead, despite latest jury award of $20M
|
Merck & Co.'s painkiller Vioxx contributed to the heart attack of an Idaho postal worker, a state jury in Atlantic City has ruled. The jury awarded Frederick "Mike" Humeston and his wife $20 million in compensatory damages.
But the drugs company is still ahead on points as it's now won nine cases and lost five in the ballooning litigation over its arthritis pill.
Humeston, 61, suffered a heart attack in September 2001, several months before Merck - under pressure from federal regulators - put a stronger warning about the cardiovascular risks of Vioxx on the drug's detailed package insert.
The jury originally found that Merck was negligent and did not provide adequate warning about those risks prior to Humeston's heart attack. That set the stage for a second phase of the trial, with the jury last week hearing evidence on whether Vioxx contributed to Humeston's heart attack, entitling him to damages.
The jurors awarded Humeston $18 million in compensatory damages and gave another $2 million to his wife, Mary.
The jury, which deliberated for about five hours over two days, also decided Humeston should be reimbursed for his out-of-pocket costs for Vioxx.
A third phase of the trial will now begin, with jurors considering whether they should assess punitive damages against Merck.
Humeston lost his first trial against the pharmaceutical giant in 2005, but New Jersey Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee granted him a second trial because new evidence surfaced that short-term Vioxx use could also be risky. Merck insists Vioxx didn't increase cardiac risks until after 18 months of use, but many doctors say research disproves that.
N.J.-based Merck pulled Vioxx from the market in September 2004 after its own research showed the drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Merck lawyers contended that Humeston had several risk factors for heart disease, including being overweight and sedentary and having high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The company's lawyers questioned his claim that he took Vioxx on the day of the heart attack and noted that he sometimes took large doses of ibuprofen, another pain reliever linked to elevated heart attack risk.
Merck has vowed to fight each lawsuit individually, despite repeated calls from plaintiffs' lawyers to negotiate a settlement.
© X-Pro 2007
|
|
