Atlantic City, N.J. – A jury found Merck & Co. liable Wednesday for one of two former Vioxx users’ heart attacks in a split verdict that awarded $4.5 million in damages to one of the plaintiffs.
The state jury found the company failed to adequately warn both men about the risk factors linking the now-withdrawn painkiller to heart attacks and strokes but said the drug was only a factor in one of the men’s illnesses.
Jurors ruled that only John McDarby, 77, a retired insurance agent from Park Ridge, should receive compensation.
McDarby was awarded $3 million for pain and suffering, and his wife was awarded $1.5 million. He did not comment after the verdict.
The trial also included the case of Thomas Cona, a 60-year- old businessman from Cherry Hill who was stricken on a golf course after what he said was nearly two years of use. The jury said he should receive $45 to compensate him for the cost of his medication. Cona declined to comment after the verdict.
The verdict came after less than two days of deliberations by a jury of six women and two men.
The trial was the first dealing with plaintiffs who blamed illnesses on long-term use of the painkiller.
McDarby, a diabetic who took Vioxx for four years, suffered his heart attack in his living room and broke his hip as a result, triggering a health slide that has left him using a wheelchair and unable to care for himself, according to his attorneys.
The jury was expected to return to court today to decide whether the company will face punitive damages. The judge told jurors not to comment until after the entire trial ends.
Compensatory damages are given to cover a plaintiff’s actual financial losses, such as medical treatment costs and lost income. Punitive damages penalize a defendant for bad conduct.
Merck said it thoroughly tested the drug before introducing Vioxx in 1999.
Merck pulled the popular and profitable drug from the market in September 2004 after a clinical study showed that people who took it longer than 18 months faced twice the risk heart attacks and strokes.
The company now faces about 9,650 suits in state and federal courts over Vioxx.
It was the second Vioxx trial in New Jersey, where more than 5,000 suits are pending.
