• 12
  • September
    2011

The decision comes 5 years after a jury in Rio Grande City decided that the man's fatal heart attack was caused by Merck's failure to warn doctors of the risks associated with Vioxx. That jury had awarded the man's widow $32 million, but that amount was later cut down to $8.73 million because of a state limit on punitive damages.

When Vioxx was taken off the market back in 2004, former users accused Merck of obscuring the health risks associated with the drug and manipulating research in order to promote the drug. In 2007, Merck agreed in a settlement to pay $4.84 billion to patients who claimed to have suffered injury as a result of the drug.

Out of the 16 cases that went to trial beginning in 2005, Merck won 11 of them.

Source: Businessweek, "Merck Wins Reversal of $32 Million Texas Vioxx Jury Verdict," Jef Feeley, August 26, 2011.