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Judge overturns Vioxx award against Merck

Posted on: Wednesday, 30 August 2006, 12:57 CDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge overturned a $50 million award handed down by a jury against Merck & Co. Inc. earlier this month in a case of a former FBI agent who had blamed the withdrawn painkiller Vioxx for his heart attack.

In a written ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon did not dispute the jury's finding that Merck knowingly misrepresented or failed to disclose a material fact regarding Vioxx safety to the plaintiff's physician, but ordered a new trial to determine the financial damages.

"The Court finds that the $50 million compensatory damages award is excessive under any conceivable substantive standard of excessiveness," Fallon in his ruling.

The jury on August 17 awarded 62-year-old Gerald Barnett $50 million in compensatory damages and another $1 million in punitive damages.

Merck did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.

Merck, which pulled Vioxx from the market in September of 2004 after a study found the drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke in long-term users, is facing more than 14,200 Vioxx product liability lawsuits.

(Additional reporting by Bill Berkrot)

Source: REUTERS

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