Merck to pay $50m to heart attack victim
Pharmaceutical company in hot water over painkilling drug
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Thursday, 17, Aug 2006 04:51
A US jury has ruled that US pharmaceutical developers Merck & Co should pay $50 million in compensation to a 62-year-old man who blamed his heart attack on the painkiller Vioxx.
Gerald Barnett, a former FBI agent, sued the company after he suffered a heart attack in 2002.
The federal jury in New Orleans found that Merck was negligible as it had failed to warn Mr Barnett and his doctors about the risks of the drug.
It is the fourth loss in nine trials so far for the company, which faces 16,000 more lawsuits.
Merck, the fourth largest US drugs maker, pulled the arthritis painkiller off shelves in 2004 after a study showed that the drug increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The company has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to fight each case individually.
Possible punitive damages for Mr Barnett are yet to be deliberated by the jury.