While Merck attorneys tried to argue that Mr McDarby was an ex-smoker and had pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, his attorney countered by arguing that Merck was negligent in not telling physicians not to prescribe Vioxx to patients with Mr McDarby's risk factors.
During the trial, the plaintiffs' attorneys, Robert Gordon and Mark Lanier, argued that Vioxx was put on the market without adequate testing and that Merck ignored warning signs about the drug's safety. They told the jury that Merck failed to inform federal regulators of the dangers of Vioxx, and spent hundreds of millions of dollars marketing a drug that the company knew was unsafe.
While the jury found that Vioxx did not play a role in Mr Cona's heart attack, it did find that Merck was guilty of violating New Jersey's consumer fraud statute, and awarded $3,969 to Mr McDarby and $45 to Mr Cona on that claim.
The jury said Merck deceived doctors about Vioxx's cardiovascular risks, and deliberately concealed information about those risks from physicians.
Because the jury found consumer fraud in both cases, under New Jersey law, the plaintiffs were entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees, and the attorneys for the two plaintiffs have requested combined fees and costs of more than $5 million related to the prosecution of the fraud claim.
At the next trial in Texas, on April 21, 2006, by a vote of 10 to 2, after deliberating for about 8 hours over 2 days, a state court jury found Merck liable for the fatal heart attack of a 71 year-old retiree, Leonel Garza, who had used Vioxx for less than one month prior to his death.
Merck attorney, Richard Josephson, told reporters that the judge should have dismissed the case before it reached a jury because Mr Garza had many preexisting risk factors and the plaintiff's attorney had provided no scientific evidence to prove that Vioxx had caused Mr Garza's heart attack.
The family's attorney, Joe Escobedo, said Vioxx was especially dangerous to Mr Garza because of his other risk factors. "Mr. Garza was the last person in the world that should have been taking Vioxx," he said.
Mr Escobedo told the jury that Merck had known since 2000 that the drug posed heart risks but continued to sell it for four more years.
The jury awarded Mr Garza's family $7 million in compensatory damages and another $25 million in punitive damages. Under Texas law, the punitive damage award will be reduced to $750,000.
"We're really pleased," Mr Escobedo told reporters. "We thought that Mr. Garza's case was a very, very strong case."
Since Mr Garza took the drug for less than one month, his case was considered a "short-term use" case in the Vioxx litigation.
After listening to all the evidence in the next trial, on July 13, 2006, a New Jersey jury found Merck not responsible for the January 2004, heart attack of 68-year-old Elaine Doherty who had been taking Vioxx for two and a half years prior to the attack. The jury decided other risk factors, and not Vioxx, caused the heart attack.
In the next trial across the country in California, on August 8, 2006, a Los Angeles jury found Merck not liable for the heart attack in 2001, of 71-year-old Stewart Grossberg, a Southern California construction manager who had taken Vioxx for more than two years before he had a heart attack at age 66.
This case was the first to go to trial in California and is one of some 2,000 Vioxx lawsuits filed in the state, that have been consolidated in the Los Angeles Superior Court, with Judge Victoria Chaney presiding.
Legal analysts have various opinions as to why the jury ruled against Mr Grossberg, even though they were presented with much of the same evidence that resulted in verdicts for the plaintiff in other trials.
During the trial, the plaintiffs' attorneys, Robert Gordon and Mark Lanier, argued that Vioxx was put on the market without adequate testing and that Merck ignored warning signs about the drug's safety. They told the jury that Merck failed to inform federal regulators of the dangers of Vioxx, and spent hundreds of millions of dollars marketing a drug that the company knew was unsafe.
While the jury found that Vioxx did not play a role in Mr Cona's heart attack, it did find that Merck was guilty of violating New Jersey's consumer fraud statute, and awarded $3,969 to Mr McDarby and $45 to Mr Cona on that claim.
The jury said Merck deceived doctors about Vioxx's cardiovascular risks, and deliberately concealed information about those risks from physicians.
At the next trial in Texas, on April 21, 2006, by a vote of 10 to 2, after deliberating for about 8 hours over 2 days, a state court jury found Merck liable for the fatal heart attack of a 71 year-old retiree, Leonel Garza, who had used Vioxx for less than one month prior to his death.
Merck attorney, Richard Josephson, told reporters that the judge should have dismissed the case before it reached a jury because Mr Garza had many preexisting risk factors and the plaintiff's attorney had provided no scientific evidence to prove that Vioxx had caused Mr Garza's heart attack.
The family's attorney, Joe Escobedo, said Vioxx was especially dangerous to Mr Garza because of his other risk factors. "Mr. Garza was the last person in the world that should have been taking Vioxx," he said.
Mr Escobedo told the jury that Merck had known since 2000 that the drug posed heart risks but continued to sell it for four more years.
The jury awarded Mr Garza's family $7 million in compensatory damages and another $25 million in punitive damages. Under Texas law, the punitive damage award will be reduced to $750,000.
"We're really pleased," Mr Escobedo told reporters. "We thought that Mr. Garza's case was a very, very strong case."
Since Mr Garza took the drug for less than one month, his case was considered a "short-term use" case in the Vioxx litigation.
After listening to all the evidence in the next trial, on July 13, 2006, a New Jersey jury found Merck not responsible for the January 2004, heart attack of 68-year-old Elaine Doherty who had been taking Vioxx for two and a half years prior to the attack. The jury decided other risk factors, and not Vioxx, caused the heart attack.
In the next trial across the country in California, on August 8, 2006, a Los Angeles jury found Merck not liable for the heart attack in 2001, of 71-year-old Stewart Grossberg, a Southern California construction manager who had taken Vioxx for more than two years before he had a heart attack at age 66.
This case was the first to go to trial in California and is one of some 2,000 Vioxx lawsuits filed in the state, that have been consolidated in the Los Angeles Superior Court, with Judge Victoria Chaney presiding.
Legal analysts have various opinions as to why the jury ruled against Mr Grossberg, even though they were presented with much of the same evidence that resulted in verdicts for the plaintiff in other trials.
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