Merck says Vioxx plaintiff had prior heart risks

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A postal worker who sued Merck & Co.
Inc., blaming its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx for his heart
attack, had several pre-existing risk factors like age and
cholesterol levels that could have led to the attack, a lawyer
for the company said on Friday.

Merck attorney Diane Sullivan, in her cross-examination of
a cardiologist who testified on behalf of plaintiff Frederick
Humeston, presented data from the American Medical Association
showing that about 20 percent to 25 percent of all heart
attacks each year occur in men of Humeston’s age group.

Humeston, 60, suffered a non-fatal heart attack in
September 2001. He is suing Merck in New Jersey Superior Court
in Atlantic City, charging that Merck hid the risks of its
popular painkiller in an effort to preserve its blockbuster
sales.

Merck has said it pulled the arthritis drug from the market
last September as soon as it had definitive evidence that
long-term use doubled heart attack and stroke risks.

“There are people younger than Mr. Humeston who have had
heart attacks” with fewer risk factors, Sullivan said.
“Unfortunately, heart attacks are common.”

The former Marine took Vioxx for about two months to treat
a knee wound suffered during the Vietnam War.

Testimony in the trial was monitored on Friday via an
Internet feed provided by cable channel Court TV.

In court on Friday, Sullivan asked Dr. Nicholas DePace, a
cardiologist from the Philadelphia area, about his prior
testimony discussing Humeston’s risk levels for heart attack. A
day earlier, DePace had testified that Vioxx likely was a risk
factor for heart attack, even if taken only for a short time.

Sullivan said a risk assessment tool called the Framingham
Risk Score, which took into account things like Humeston’s age,
weight and cholesterol level, estimated that he had had a one
in 10 chance of suffering a heart attack.

De Pace told Sullivan that Humeston’s risk level was in
fact 10 percent over a 10-year period — or about a 1 percent
chance per year.

“I think that is pretty low (odds) – 1 percent a year,” he
said.

On Thursday, Dr. David Sim, an Idaho cardiologist who has
treated Humeston since his heart attack, testified that he was
able to eliminate many of the most common high risk factors for
causing a heart attack.

Asked if there were any potential medication-related
reasons that might have caused the heart attack, Sim testified,
“The drug that was potentially relevant for Mr. Humeston was
Vioxx.”

This is the second civil trial since the withdrawal of
Vioxx, and follows an August jury verdict in Texas state court
that held Merck responsible for a Vioxx user’s death. Merck is
appealing that case.