Judge declares mistrial in Vioxx case

[cal04]

Jurors in federal trial against pain drug maker Merck were deadlocked
Merck & Co. emerged from its third Vioxx trial Monday with a hung jury when the panel failed, in about 18 hours of deliberations over three days, to side with the drug maker or the widow of a 53-year-old Florida man who died after taking Vioxx for about a month.

The jury resumed what was to be its fourth day of deliberations Monday, but within about 20 minutes, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon called the jurors in and reminded them they had agreed to reach a verdict in a “reasonable time.” “It has now been a reasonable time. We cannot get a verdict,” Fallon said, declaring a mistrial. Federal litigation requires a unanimous verdict. The panel was at odds over whether Merck was liable in Richard “Dicky” Irvin’s 2001 death and whether the company failed to issue safety warnings that the drug could have serious cardiovascular repurcussions.

In August, Merck was found liable in state court for the death of a Texas man. A second trial in New Jersey state court exonerated the company in a separate case. The jury began deliberations Thursday afternoon in the case brought by the widow of the 53-year-old Irvin, Jr., claiming her husband died of a heart attack in 2001 because he took Vioxx. Irvin, a manager at a seafood distribution business, took Vioxx for less than a month before he suffered the fatal heart attack.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10428105/

[bluestateguy]

1. How many more months of paper pushing will this create?

More hours to bill for the lawyers!!

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Bills for the Merck lawyers

I hope so.

They're bastards of the highest water. My mom was on Vioxx, too. Make 'em pay until they have to sell out to another one of those bastard companies.

--p!
A Socialist? Moi?

[emad]

2. Vioxx court case ends in mistrial

A US judge has declared a mistrial in the first federal lawsuit against drugs giant Merck and its Vioxx painkiller.

The move came after a jury in Houston was unable to agree on whether the drug had caused a man's fatal heart attack.

Merck is facing a mass of Vioxx lawsuits. It withdrew the drug last year after a study found it may double the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Last month a New Jersey state jury found Merck had given doctors adequate warning about possible Vioxx risks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4522032.stm