Court overturns Vioxx verdict

Published: May 16, 2008 at 12:48 AM
Order reprints
SAN ANTONIO, May 16 (UPI) -- The Texas Fourth Court of Appeals overturned a $7.75 million verdict against Merck & Co. in a lawsuit over the heart risk of the painkiller Vioxx.

The court ruled there was insufficient evidence linking the painkiller to a fatal heart attack suffered by the plaintiff's spouse, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Felicia Garza of Rio Grande City, Texas, sued Merck, alleging that Vioxx caused her 71-year-old husband, Lionel, to suffer a fatal heart attack. A jury awarded her $32 million in 2006, but the award was later reduced to $7.75 million.

The Fourth Court of Appeals said the plaintiffs failed to negate, "with reasonable certainty, Mr. Garza's pre-existing heart condition as a plausible cause of his death."

Vioxx was pulled from the market in 2004 after it was linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.


© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



Scientists identify allergy-causing gene (3 min)
UPI NewsTrack Business (5 min)
Geithner pushes to regulate derivatives (13 min)
France's Bruni pledges earthquake help (17 min)
Harajuku tops people watching list (18 min)
Next Israeli army deputy chief named (20 min)
G8 pledges $20 billion in food aid (26 min)
fark
Mothers Against Drunk Driving not amused with brewery for naming their beers after New Jersey Turnpike...
New York Times forced to remove several photos and issue an apology due to a reader seeing a few...
Physical injuries caused by texting on the rise. EVERYBODY PAN - - (thud)
In an effort to garner public sympathy, striking public union boss refers to citizens that cut their...
Headmistress accused of using school funds to pay for Caribbean holiday. Jamaica? No, she did it...
Cheeky monkeys at The Register react to news of Mel Gibson-Jodie Foster collaboration: "We came"...