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Multi-Million Dollar Award To Widow In First Vioxx Trial

Added September 20th, 2005

The first Vioxx case to go to trial has concluded with the widow of the deceased being awarded over $250 million in damages. Robert Ernst died after taking Vioxx on and off for a period of time, and his widow Carol filed a lawsuit for wrongful death, convinced that her husband’s death was due to the side effects of Vioxx, a cox-2 inhibitor manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Merck.

The jury at the trial awarded Carol Ernst $24 million in damages, plus a further $229 million in punitive damages. The ruling made by the jury was that Merck did not give adequate warnings to doctors and other health professionals with regards to the possible side effects of the drug, Vioxx. The jury therefore concluded that Mr. Ernst’s death was caused by Merck’s negligence.

Merck has already stated that it plans to appeal against the award. A legal spokesperson for the pharmaceutical company stated: "We believe that the plaintiff did not meet the standard set by Texas law to prove Vioxx caused Mr. Ernst's death. There is no reliable scientific evidence that shows Vioxx causes cardiac arrhythmias, which an autopsy showed was the cause of Mr. Ernst's death, along with coronary atherosclerosis."

He added: "This case did not call for punitive damages. Merck acted responsibly -- from researching Vioxx prior to approval in clinical trials involving almost 10,000 patients -- to monitoring the medicine while it was on the market -- to voluntarily withdrawing the medicine when it did."

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