Doctor Testifies in Boise Vioxx Trial

By The Idaho Statesman, Boise

Oct. 4–The emergency room doctor who treated Boise postal worker Frederick “Mike” Humeston for a heart attack he blames on Vioxx told a jury Monday that Humeston had large, healthy heart vessels.

Testifying in Humeston’s product liability trial against Vioxx maker Merck & Co, Dr. Graham Wetherley said the 60-year-old man’s heart attack was not severe enough to require any emergency procedures to clear his arteries.

Humeston alleges that Vioxx caused his Sept. 2001 heart attack and that Merck delayed notifying doctors and patients about the drug’s risks.

Merck maintains that Humeston’s heart attack may have been caused by work-related stress or other medical risks unrelated to the Vioxx he used for knee pain.

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MRK,