Merck loses $51M Vioxx suit

Jury says drugmaker withheld info

By Mary Foster
The Associated Press

Merck & Co. lost the second federal trial over its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx on Thursday and must pay $51 million to a retired FBI agent who had a heart attack after taking the drug for more than two years, a jury decided.

Jerry Barnett, right, leaves Federal Court with his lawyer and wife after a jury sided with him that Merck’s drug Vioxx was to blame for his heart attack. (AP)

The jury found that Merck “knowingly misrepresented or failed to disclose” information about the drug to retired FBI agent Gerald Barnett’s doctors. It said Barnett should get $50 million in compensatory damages. Then, after hearing more arguments, the jurors added a $1 million punitive damage award, finding that Merck “acted in wanton, malicious, willful or reckless disregard for the plaintiff’s rights.”

Barnett’s lawyer, Mark Robinson, had asked for another $25 million, arguing that it would send a message to drugmakers that they should not rush pharmaceuticals to market.

Merck’s lawyer, Phil Beck, argued that no further awards were needed to punish the drugmaker.

“My guess is that you have already awarded punitive damages. You sent a message loud and clear, and the people at Merck heard that message,” Beck said. Barnett’s lawsuit is among more than 16,000 Vioxx-related suits against Merck in state and federal courts.

The first federal trial had to be held twice. The first jury deliberated 18 hours over three days, but deadlocked over whether Vioxx was to blame for the death of a Florida man who had taken the drug for less than a month.

The second jury in that case came back in less than four hours with a verdict for Merck.