RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas — A state jury found Merck liable for the death of a 71-year-old man who had a fatal heart attack within a month of starting taking its since-withdrawn painkiller Vioxx.
The jury of 10 men and two women deliberated for about seven hours over two days before returning the verdict in favor of the family of Leonel Garza, who had suffered from heart disease for more than 20 years and had taken Vioxx for less than a month.
The company was ordered to pay $7 million in non-economic compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.
But the punitive damage amount is likely to be reduced since state law caps punitive damages at twice the amount of economic damages - lost pay - and up to $750,000 on top of non-economic damages, which are comprised of mental anguish and loss of companionship.
Because Garza was retired, the jury awarded no economic damages. That means the most Garza's family could receive under state law is $7.75 million.
Merck have said they will appeal.
Insiders' view: not good for Merck! They had started to get a ball rolling of at least 18 months use of Vioxx being needed for a win. That has now been discounted and all bets are off regarding what proportion of the cases (which have risen from 10,000 to 11,500) they might win.
Coming up are two more cases are scheduled to be tried jointly in New Jersey starting in June.
In the same month, the first Vioxx case in California is expected to get under way.
State cases in Florida and Mississippi are also expected to commence over the summer.
And in Federal court: In U.S. District Court in New Orleans, where all the federal cases are consolidated, four trials have been scheduled for later in the year.
Source: AP
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