Judge Carol Higbee has postponed the trial of a man who claimed Merck's Vioxx painkiller caused his heart attack, but another Vioxx trial is still scheduled to begin in early June in Atlantic City.
She issued an order April 28 adjourning a trial in the case of John Klug, who claimed long-term Vioxx use caused his heart attack. The trial was set to begin June 5th, but will now be rescheduled at a later date.
Merck is 3-3 in Vioxx jury verdicts so far, with juries in Texas and New Jersey having awarded nearly $300 million in combined damages in the three verdicts against the company. That figure is likely to be reduced under state laws capping punitive damages.
Merck has vowed to defend itself case by case over many years.
In Judge Higbee's order, which was posted this week on a court website, she said she made her decision after considering ''discovery concerns'' surrounding Klug's prescriber records.
Source: AP
No comments:
Post a Comment