MSD wins Vioxx product liability case

Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD) has welcomed a decision in a federal court that rejected the claim that the company’s nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory compound Vioxx (rofecoxib) caused the heart attack of a 47-year old man in Tennessee in 2003.

Vioxx is indicated in the treatment of osteoarthritis, dysmenorrhoea and acute pain conditions.

Phil Beck, lead trial lawyer for MSD in the case, reported that the jury in the trial has decided that MSD had acted in the correct manner in its marketing and development of Vioxx and that the compound had not “substantially” contributed to the heart attack of Anthony Wayne Dedrick.

“He had multiple risk factors for a heart attack including a family history of cardiac problems, heavy smoking for many years and he had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes,” said Mr Beck.

He added that Mr Dedrick had a severe case of atherosclerosis prior to his administration with Vioxx, claiming that he would have experienced a heart attack irrespective of his treatment with the drug.

In November, MSD reported that a New Orleans’ court had dismissed foreign class actions from nine countries, including England.

The company argued that the countries had suitable legal systems, in which cases could be pursued and the plaintiffs accepted the dismissal from the court conditional on their opportunity to take up legal action in those countries.