Merck & Co. has lost its first Vioxx personal injury case. A Texas jury found the company negligent in the death of Robert Ernst, a 59-year-old triathlete who used Vioxx, awarding the man's widow $24 million in actual damages, plus $229 million in punitive damages, for a total of about $253 million.
The jury of seven men and five women in Brazoria County, Texas, ruled that Merck failed to warn doctors of the Vioxx's danger, that the drug was improperly designed, and that Merck's negligence caused Ernst's death.
Vioxx is the popular prescription painkiller used by more than 20 million Americans before it was withdrawn from the market after being linked to heart attacks. The case was the first of more than 4,000 to go to trial.
Merck said it plans to appeal.
"We believe that the plaintiff did not meet the standard set by Texas law to prove VIOXX caused Mr. Ernst's death," said Jonathan Skidmore of Fulbright & Jaworski, a member of Merck's defense team. "There is no reliable scientific evidence that shows Vioxx causes cardiac arrhythmias, which an autopsy showed was the cause of Mr. Ernst's death, along with coronary atherosclerosis."
"This case did not call for punitive damages," added Skidmore. "Merck acted responsibly -- from researching Vioxx prior to approval in clinical trials involving almost 10,000 patients -- to monitoring the medicine while it was on the market -- to voluntarily withdrawing the medicine when it did."
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who has sued Merck on behalf of the state's Medicaid program, said the verdict "validates why my office brought suit against this company in the first place."
"The jury concluded that the untimely death of Mr. Robert Ernst was the direct result of his taking Vioxx."
"The verdict also shows why Texas deserves to get its money back from Merck; the company purposely peddled a drug on the open market that it knew could harm people. Merck compounded this problem by giving false information to the states Medicaid program about the drugs safety," Abbott said. "I will continue to aggressively pursue this company in court and get justice for Texas."
