Merck & Co wins federal Vioxx case
Troubled US drug major Merck & Co has won a second legal victory, and the first in a federal court, over claims that its COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx (rofecoxib) had caused heart attacks or deaths, when a federal court jury in New Orleans returned a defense verdict in Plunkett versus Merck by rejecting a claim that the short-term use of the drug played a role in the 2001 death of a Florida man. This was a re-trial of a case that was dismissed last year on a hung jury (Marketletter December 19, 2005).
Thus far, Merck has lost one case (in the state of Texas, where the widow of a former Vioxx user was awarded damages of $253.0 million but which Merck is appealing) and won another (in New Jersey; Marketletters passim). Merck's share price rose 2.5% in after-hours trading on February 17, the day of the verdict.
Decision "confirms scientific evidence"
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