MSD Vioxx lawsuit dropped weeks before trial

Angela McCool, the plaintiff in a lawsuit relating to osteoarthritis treatment Vioxx from Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD) due to take place at the court of common please in Philadelphia has voluntarily dismissed her suit with prejudice.

The lawsuit from Ms McCool, alleging her husband’s use of Vioxx was related to his subsequent heart attack and death, would have been the first to go to trial in the city.

MSD claims that Ms McCool’s husband exhibited symptoms of heart disease before his treatment with Vioxx and had a number of contributing risk factors for the condition, including obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol.

Ted Mayer, of MSD’s outside counsel, Hughes Hubbard & Reed, said: “We believe that our evidence was strong in this case and MSD was prepared to go forward with the trial.”

MSD reports that as of September 30th last year, over 3,000 claims relating to Vioxx have been dismissed, with a third dismissed with prejudice by plaintiffs or judges and the remainder dismissed without prejudice.

Last week, a judge in a state court in Los Angeles declared two mistrials in cases against MSD after juries failed to return verdicts in trials alleging that Vioxx had contributed to heart attacks in patients.