Merck & Co loses another Vioxx case

A state court jury in Texas, USA, has found in favor of a 71-year-old Texas man's family which had claimed that Merck & Co's Vioxx (rofecoxib) caused his fatal heart attack in April of 2001 and ordered the company to pay $7.0 million in compensatory and $25.0 million in punitive damages. Merck made clear it will appeal both the compensatory and punitive aspects of the verdict, noting that Texas law will automatically limit the punitive damage award to $750,000.

The case was tried in the Rio Grande Valley, described as a "Plaintiff's Paradise" by the Associated Press and cited as the nation's most difficult jurisdiction for corporate defendants by the American Tort Reform Association. Texas State Judge Alex Gabert of the 229th Judicial District presided over the case.

"There is simply no reliable scientific evidence that Vioxx caused Leonel Garza Sr's heart attack," said Richard Josephson of Baker Botts, lead attorney for Merck's defense team in the case. "It is also clear that Merck provided to the US Food and Drug Administration all required information about Vioxx. There was no evidence that Merck acted with gross neglect and, under Texas law, that means punitive damages should not have been awarded," he added.