Jury Awards Widow $253.4M in Vioxx Trial
Friday August 19, 3:05 pm ET
By Kristen Hays and Theresa Agovino, AP Business Writer
Texas Jury Finds Merck Liable in Death of Man Who Took Painkiller Vioxx, Awards Widow $253.4M


ANGLETON, Texas (AP) -- A Texas jury found pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. liable for the death of a man who took the once-popular painkiller Vioxx.
Jurors awarded Robert Ernst's widow, Carol, $253.4 million in damages, which is a combination of his lost pay as a Wal-Mart produce manager, mental anguish, loss of companionship and punitive damages.




The case drew national attention from pharmaceutical companies, lawyers, consumers, stock analysts and arbitragers as a signal of what lies ahead for Merck, which has vowed to fight the more than 4,200 state and federal Vioxx-related lawsuits pending across the country. Merck said it plans to appeal.

A seven-man, five-woman jury from a semi-rural county south of Houston deliberated for 10 1/2 hours over two days before blaming the drug for killing Ernst in his sleep in 2001. Jurors rejected Merck's argument that Ernst died of clogged arteries rather than a Vioxx-induced heart attack that led to his fatal arrhythmia.

In Texas, punitive damages are capped 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. Non-economic damages have no limit in Texas except in medical malpractice cases, which doesn't apply to the Ernst case.

Shares of Merck & Co. fell $1.01, or 3.3 percent, to $29.40 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange after the verdict.


http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050819/vioxx_trial.html?.v=8

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