Merck Loses Key Point At Vioxx Trial

Associated Press - August 2, 2005

ANGLETON, Texas -- It was a tough day Monday for Merck and Co. at the first liability trial involving its once popular drug Vioxx. Jurors in Texas watched videotaped testimony from a pathologist who said Robert Ernst more than likely died from arrhythmia caused by a heart attack while taking Vioxx.

Vioxx was pulled from the market by Merck last September after a study found the painkiller doubles the risk of heart attack if taken for 18 months or longer. More than 3,800 Vioxx lawsuits have been filed nationwide. The lawsuit against the drugmaker was filed on behalf of Carol Ernst, whose husband died of an arrhythmia after taking Vioxx for about eight months to ease pain in his hands. Merck says there had been no link between Vioxx and arrhythmia.

Merck's lawyers went to the Texas Supreme Court hoping to keep jurors from seeing the testimony. They were relying on the autopsy report that says Ernst's clogged arteries were mostly to blame for his death. Merck's former marketing director also testified, saying the drug was never tested for its effects on the heart before going on the market.