Merck wins Vioxx case

A US Federal Court jury has rejected a claim that Merck's COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx, recalled in 2004 over safety concerns, caused the heart attack of a 61-year-old man.

The case was the fourth to go to the Federal Court and the third that Merck has won. It still faces thousands of individual and group law suits.

This case involved the 2003 heart attack of Charles Mason, who said he took Vioxx for 10 months beforehand. The court heard he had multiple risk factors, including coronary heart disease, a family history of cardiac problems and obesity.

The case was specifically chosen by the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee (PSC), a 13-member lawyer group formed to represent the plaintiffs in pre-trial proceedings in various litigations.

When the case went to trial in New Orleans in early September, the PSC accused Merck of attempting to sway the jury pool by launching a television advertising campaign in Louisiana.

Merck's lead trial lawyer in the Mason case, Phil Beck, said the jury had determined that Merck acted appropriately in the development and marketing of Vioxx and that Vioxx did not substantially contribute to the plaintiff's heart attack.