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Vioxx Trial Seen As Crucial for Merck Jury Selection Begins in Atlantic City

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

WHITEHOUSE STATION - Merck & Co., ordered last month to pay $253 million to a Vioxx user's widow, will argue in a second trial that opened today that other causes, not its painkiller, were responsible for the heart attack of an ex-Marine.

Jury selection began in Atlantic City, where Frederick Humeston claims in court papers that Merck ignored cardiovascular risks of Vioxx before pulling the drug from the market last September. Humeston, 60, had a heart attack in 2001 after taking Vioxx for a knee he injured in the Vietnam War.

Merck, the No. 3 U.S. drug maker, argues that Humeston's age, weight, hypertension and inactivity caused his heart attack, not Vioxx, court papers show. Merck, which faces almost 5,000 Vioxx suits, must win this second trial, say lawyers and analysts who predict that several early losses could force the company to pay billions of dollars in settlements.

"If Merck gets to be 0-4 or 0-5 in these cases, the settlement value of these claims is going to go through the roof," said attorney Charles Parker of Locke, Liddell & Sapp in Houston.

Parker sued Wyeth on behalf of clients whose heart and lung ailments were tied to the company's fen-phen diet drug combination. Wyeth lost the first five fen-phen cases that went to trial and set aside $21 billion for thousands of other cases. Bayer, which faces suits claiming its Baycol drug caused a muscle-weakening disease, won an early trial and has paid out $1.13 billion so far to resolve nearly 3,000 cases.

Court officials said 226 potential jurors for the Humeston trial filled out questionnaires Monday, with selection of 10 panelists set for today. Opening arguments are expected Wednesday. The judge will name six jurors and four alternates before deliberations begin.

Source: Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.

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