Vioxx jury hears pathologist testimony on Texas man's sudden death

Associated Press - ANGLETON, Texas -- Jurors in the Vioxx trial heard testimony Monday from a pathologist who said the death of a man taking the drug was more than likely caused by a heart attack _ damaging Merck & Co.'s defense in the first Vioxx liability case to reach trial. The testimony from Dr. Maria Araneta was shown to the jury almost immediately after the Texas Supreme Court denied Merck's attempt to stop jurors from hearing it.

Merck, the drug's New Jersey-based maker, was relying heavily on Araneta's autopsy report, which said that Robert Ernst, 59, died of an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, secondary to clogged arteries. Merck says no studies show a link between taking Vioxx and a higher risk of arrhythmia. In the deposition, Araneta said she thought Robert Ernst's 2001 death from arrhythmia was more than likely caused by a heart attack. Neither her report nor Ernst's death certificate identify a heart attack as the cause of his death. Merck attorney Joseph Piorkowski asked Araneta whether she was changing her conclusion in the autopsy report. "I'm not changing my opinion, I'm just explaining it further," she said. "That's the autopsy report, but it's not the end of the story."

The deposition by Araneta _ now a pathologist in the United Arab Emirates _ bolstered the plaintiff's contention that a heart attack was triggered by Ernst's arrhythmia but that he died too quickly for his heart to show damage. She said Ernst probably had a heart attack because a blood clot blocked the blood flow in an artery that was already clogged with plaque. She also said CPR conducted on Ernst probably dislodged the clot. "I did not see a myocardial infarction (heart attack), but it's common knowledge that in sudden death the heart does not have time to undergo these changes," Araneta said. Ernst's wife, Carol, sued Merck, claiming that the Vioxx her husband took for eight months to ease pain in his hands caused his death. Merck pulled Vioxx from the market in September after a study showed that it doubled the risk of heart attack if taken for 18 months of longer. Carol Ernst's attorney, Mark Lanier, also has singled out Merck's medical manual, which says arrhythmia occurs in more than 90 percent of heart attack patients. Ernst was a produce manager at a Texas Wal-Mart who also ran marathons and worked as a personal trainer.

Merck fought to prevent jurors from hearing Araneta's testimony on the grounds that Lanier failed to identify her by name as a witness by the pretrial deadline, which the company said violated court rules on surprise witnesses. The 14th Court of Appeals in Texas denied the company's appeal of state District Judge Ben Hardin's decision that jurors could hear Araneta's testimony. The company then appealed to the state Supreme Court. The Ernst case is the first of more than 4,200 lawsuits related to the once-popular painkiller to go before a jury.