Drug giant found liable in first Vioxx trial
A Texas jury found pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co liable for the death of a man who took the once-popular painkiller Vioxx.
Jurors awarded Robert Ernst’s widow, Carol, $253.4m (€208.3m) in damages, which is a combination of his lost pay as a supermarket produce manager, mental anguish, loss of companionship and punitive damages.
The case drew national and international attention from pharmaceutical companies, lawyers, consumers, stock analysts and arbitragers as a signal of what lies ahead for Merck, which has vowed to fight the more than 4,200 state and federal Vioxx-related lawsuits pending across the US.
Merck said it plans to appeal.
Lawsuits have also been filed in Europe, Canada, Brazil, Australia and Israel.
A seven-man, five-woman jury from a semi-rural county south of Houston deliberated over two days before blaming the drug for killing Mr Ernst in his sleep in 2001.
Jurors rejected Merck’s argument that he died of clogged arteries rather than a Vioxx--induced heart attack that led to his fatal arrhythmia.
Shares of Merck & Co fell 3.3% in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange following the verdict.
