MSD ordered to pay $9m in Vioxx case

An American court has ordered MSD to pay punitive damages to the sum of $9 million to one of the Vioxx case plaintiffs.

MSD had already been ordered to pay $4.5 million to the same man ? John McDarby, 77, of New Jersey ? for compensatory damages related to a claim that use of the MSD drug Vioxx contributed to his heart attack.

MSD has said, however, that it will appeal against both sums and against the other half of the two-plaintiff case.

“MSD’s actions were proper and did not, in any way, call for this award as defined by New Jersey law,” said Chuck Harrell of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada, a member of the MSD defence.

“The evidence was clear that we provided the US Food and Drug Administration with the information about Vioxx that we were required to provide. And, under New Jersey law, that means punitive damages should not have been awarded.”

The case, which involves Mr Darby and Thomas Cona, follows the decision against MSD in August last year that ordered it to pay $253 million to the widow of a Texas man who died following short-term use of the arthritis drug.

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