Merck wins second Vioxx lawsuit
18 Feb 2006
The US drug multinational Merck, which is facing several lawsuits in the US on charges of having wilfully withheld information on its best-selling pain-killer Vioxx, which it had to withdraw from the market in 2003, won a major court victory when a US federal jury cleared the drug maker of any responsibility for the death of a 53-year-old man.
The firm argued that there was never any proven link between Vioxx and the death due to heart attack of a 53-year old patient who had been on the Vioxx for less than a month.
This was Merck's second court victory over the controversial drug, which at the time of its withdrawal had annual sales of $2.5 billion in 2003, and the first in a federal court.
In August last year, Merck was ordered to pay out $253 million as damages after a state jury in Texas held the company liable for the death of a man. In November 2005, a New Jersey jury found Merck had given doctors adequate warning about possible health risks and did not commit consumer fraud in marketing the drug.
Merck faces a several lawsuits over Vioxx after a study found it could double the risk of heart attack or stroke.
