Court overturns Vioxx verdict

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.