By The Associated Press
THE OUTCOME: Drugmaker Merck & Co. won the latest Vioxx trial when an Atlantic City jury ruled Merck’s withdrawn painkiller Vioxx was not a major cause of 68-year-old Elaine Doherty’s heart attack in January 2004.
KEY ISSUES: Jurors said that most felt Doherty’s obesity and other cardiac risk factors caused her heart attack. The jurors voted unanimously that Merck failed to warn Doherty about the drug’s risks, the first time that issue has been considered in a Vioxx trial.
THE SCORECARD: Merck has won four of the seven Vioxx cases to reach verdicts, including three of the four cases in New Jersey. It still faces at least 16,000 Vioxx lawsuits.
Lindsey O'Neill is the Director of Legal Content and Business Development at LawInfo.com. In addition to her role at LawInfo, she is an attorney in private practice based in La Jolla, California, counseling businesses on a wide variety of legal and business matters. Ms. O'Neill is also general counsel for Naturally Modern, LLC, a design firm focused on modern furnishings and accessories for an indoor-outdoor lifestyle.