- Drug giant Merck & Co. Inc. has suffered a severe
setback in the first of thousands of lawsuits in the United States and
Canada as a Texas jury awarded more than $253-million (U.S.) to the family
of a man who died after taking the company's Vioxx painkiller.
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- In a groundbreaking decision, the seven-man, five-woman
jury found Merck liable in the death of 59-year-old Robert Ernst. They
rejected Merck's argument that Mr. Ernst died of clogged arteries rather
than a Vioxx-induced heart attack that led to his fatal arrhythmia, or
irregular heart beat.
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- Merck yanked Vioxx, a $2.5-billion a year blockbuster,
from markets worldwide in the fall of 2004, after a long-term study showed
it could double the risk of heart attack or stroke if taken for 18 months
or longer.
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- "This loss means that this particular jury believed
the plaintiff's story about the company's wrongful conduct, which we believe
will carry into the future," said Windsor, Ont. lawyer Greg Monforton,
whose firm has some 200 Vioxx clients across Canada.
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- "The verdict against Merck is very encouraging news
for all Canadians who have suffered heart attacks or strokes while taking
Vioxx," he added.
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- Some four dozen claims have been filed in Canada against
Merck by a consortium of law firms. The cases, however, have not yet been
consolidated into a single class action. Mr. Monforton said his clients
may proceed individually or join a class action.
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- Merck put a great deal of energy into its defence in
Texas on the grounds that a victory would have discouraged lawsuits in
the future. "However, the net result is the opposite," Mr. Monforton
said. "Now that we have a jury verdict, it will embolden a lot of
individuals to come forward with their claims."
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- That prospect prompted investors to dump shares of Merck
on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. The stock price sank $1.16, or
4 per cent, to $29.25.
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- Robert's widow, Carol Ernst, began to cry when the verdict
was read while her attorneys jumped up and shouted, "Amen!"
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- Mr. Ernst was a produce manager at Wal-Mart and a marathon
runner who died in May, 2001 after taking Vioxx for eight months to alleviate
pain in his hands. The couple had been married for less than a year.
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- Merck has vowed to fight each case individually, claiming
that adverse cardiac events were caused by a patient's pre-existing condition
and not by Vioxx. It said it plans to appeal the Texas ruling.
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- "There is no reliable scientific evidence that shows
Vioxx causes cardiac arrhythmias, which an autopsy showed was the cause
of Mr. Ernst's death, along with coronary atherosclerosis," said Jonathan
Skidmore, a member of Merck's defence team.
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- The jury award consisted of $24.4-million in actual damages
and $229-million in punitive damages.
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- "This case did not call for punitive damages,"
Mr. Skidmore said. "Merck acted responsibly and in the best interest
of patients, from researching Vioxx prior to approval in clinical trials
involving almost 10,000 patients, to monitoring the medicine while it was
on the market, and to voluntarily withdrawing the medicine when it did."
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- Legal experts suggest the jury award was excessive and
will probably be reduced on appeal. They said Texas law caps punitive damages
to twice actual damages. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled punitive damages
should usually be limited to nine times actual damages.
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- Vioxx was used by more than 20 million people. It and
Pfizer Inc.'s Celebrex commanded the lion's share of the pain reliever
market in the past five years. Pfizer has rejected studies linking high
doses of Celebrex with an increased risk of stroke or coronary disease.
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- Legal experts said the Texas decision is especially damaging
because Merck initially had been expected to win what was considered a
weak case linking Vioxx to arrhythmia. And the next two cases Merck faces
appear somewhat stronger, they say. A trial begins next month in Atlantic
City, N.J., over a former U.S. Marine's claims that Vioxx caused his heart
attack.
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- In November, the first of 1,800 federal cases will be
heard in New Orleans. It revolves around Richard Irvin, a Florida man who
was taking Vioxx for a month before his 2001 death from a blood clot in
his heart. Scientists have speculated that Vioxx causes cardiovascular
problems because it blocks a substance that keeps blood from clotting.
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- - With a report from Associated Press
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- © Copyright 2005 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc.
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