Jury Awards $47.5M in Vioxx Case
A New Jersey jury yesterday awarded $47.5 million to a retired Idaho postal worker and his wife, finding that Vioxx manufacturer Merck & Co., Inc. failed to provide adequate warnings about the painkiller's risks, and that Vioxx use was a factor in plaintiff Frederick Humeston's 2001 heart attack. An initial award of $20 million in compensatory damages was increased to a total of $47.5 million after the jury ordered Merck to pay $27.5 million in punitive damages. The jury verdict was the fifth entered against Merck since Vioxx was pulled from the marketplace in September 2004, due to concerns over patient safety.