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Merck: Another Vioxx suit dropped

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., Oct. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. firm Merck said Tuesday the latest legal challenger on withdrawn painkiller Vioxx has dropped the suit two weeks before trial.

The company said the suit, brought by a Texas woman, was the fourth case set for trial in the Texas statewide proceedings to be abandoned prior to trial.

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In the lawsuit, plaintiff Sharon Rigby charged the COX 2 inhibitor Vioxx caused her heart attack, "although she was a smoker with a family history of heart disease and a number of other risk factors," Merck said. The company also noted that Rigby has a second suit pending against another pharmaceutical company "alleging heart injuries."

The Rigby case was one of two hand-picked by plaintiffs as the first to be tried in the Texas statewide proceedings, Merck said.

The other case in the pair met a similar fate when the plaintiff who filed that lawsuit failed to list his Vioxx claim as an asset when he previously filed for bankruptcy protection.

In August, two other plaintiffs unilaterally dropped their cases against Merck before trial, the company said.

"We believe the evidence was strong in this case and Merck was prepared to go forward with the trial," said attorney Ted Mayer of Hughes Hubbard & Reed, a law firm representing Merck.

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Claims by more than 3,000 plaintiff groups have been dismissed to date, Merck said, including more than 1,100 plaintiff groups whose claims were dismissed with prejudice either by plaintiffs themselves or by the courts. Another 2,000 plaintiff groups have had their claims dismissed without prejudice, the company added.

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