Appellate Court Overrules Jury Verdict in Vioxx Case
On May 14, San Antonio's 4th Court of Appeals reversed a $7.75 million judgment in a case in which the plaintiffs alleged that taking the pain medication Vioxx caused the death of a 71-year-old man in April 2001. A jury in Rio Grande City, Texas, in April 2006 awarded $32 million to the widow of 71-year-old Leonel Garza, a short-term Vioxx user who died of a heart attack in 2001. That award of $7 million for compensatory damages and $25 million for punitive damages was later cut to about $7.75 million under Texas law limiting damages.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the Texas 4th Court of Appeals overturned the verdict, ruling in favor of Merck. The opinion was signed by Justice Sandee Bryan Marion.
Merck had pulled Vioxx off the market in September 2004 after a study determined that the medication doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes among patients who took it 18 months or more.
As a result of the 4th Court's decision, the Garza family will receive nothing.
Source: Texas Lawyer & AP
