'win some and lose some'

[Guest guest]

SSRI-Research@

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 20:13:44 -0400

[sSRI-Research] 'win some and lose some' [people live; people

die... do we care? not if the stock price goes up...]

 

 

 

Escobedo said studies showed the drug caused " excess cardio events "

years before the drug was introduced and e-mails between Merck

employees and medical consultants showed doubt as to whether it should

be marketed to certain populations. He said Merck was in a race to

release a potential blockbuster arthritis drug and ignored its

dangers. [ -- such a surprise...]

 

 

--

 

 

Jury: Merck Liable in Elderly Man's Death

By LYNN BREZOSKY, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 51 minutes ago

 

http://news./s/ap/20060421/ap_on_bi_ge/vioxx_trial_18

 

A state jury found Merck & Co. liable Friday for the death of a

71-year-old man who had a fatal heart attack within a month of taking

its since-withdrawn painkiller Vioxx and ordered the company to pay

$32 million. Merck said it would appeal.

 

The damage award will likely be reduced because of a state law capping

punitive damages.

 

The jury of 10 men and two women deliberated for about seven hours

over two days before returning the verdict in favor of the family of

Leonel Garza, who had suffered from heart disease for more than 20

years and had taken Vioxx for less than a month.

 

The company was ordered to pay $7 million in non-economic compensatory

damages and $25 million in punitive damages.

 

But the punitive damage amount is likely to be reduced since state law

caps punitive damages at twice the amount of economic damages - lost

pay - and up to $750,000 on top of non-economic damages, which are

comprised of mental anguish and loss of companionship.

 

Because Garza was retired, the jury awarded no economic damages. That

means the most Garza's family could receive under state law is $7.75

million.

 

" Merck will appeal, " spokesman Kent Jarrell said.

 

" This is the first case in the country where short-term usage has been

found by a jury to be causatory of heart attacks, " said plaintiffs'

attorney Joe Escobedo. " We hope this will go a long way in dispelling

this '18-month' science fiction myth. "

 

Vioxx was found to greatly increase the risk of heart attacks in

people who took the painkiller for 18 months or longer.

 

" I just don't think there's any basis to the verdict that came down

today, " defense lawyer Richard Josephson said.

 

Lehman Brothers analyst Tony Butler said he was " a little shocked by

the verdict given all of Mr. Garza's health problems. " He thinks Merck

is pursing the correct strategy by trying each case individually

because in the past drug companies have only forked over big

settlements when they entered into massive class action suits.

 

" I don't see any pressure on them to settle in the near term, " Butler

said.

 

But the defense lawyer Josephson noted that such verdicts are common

in the blue-collar Rio Grande Valley.

 

" Starr County has always been a difficult jurisdiction for corporate

defendants. .... The people here are good people, they just tend to

favor individuals in cases where there are corporate defendants

involved. It's just a fact of life. "

 

Garza family members left the courthouse without comment to attend a

mass for Leonel Garza on Friday, the 5th anniversary of his death.

 

The case was the sixth of 11,500 lawsuits to reach a verdict and

brings Merck's scorecard in the trials to three wins and three losses.

 

Merck shares fell 26 cents to close at $34.74 on the New York Stock

Exchange. They are still near the upper end of their 52-week range of

$25.50 to $36.65.

 

Jason Napodano, an analyst at Zacks Independent Research, said he

thinks Wall Street is becoming numb to the Vioxx trials.

 

" This kind of stuff is going to keep happening. They are going to win

some and lose some, " Napodano, who won't recommend Merck until the

litigation has reached some sort of settlement.

 

In the prior two losses, the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company

was ordered to pay one plaintiff $253.4 million, which will be reduced

to $26 million under Texas caps on punitive damages; and the other

$13.5 million.

 

Attorneys for Garza said that while Garza had a history of heart

problems, his veins had been cleared and a stress test showed less

than a 2 percent risk of heart attack within a year. They said he had

taken the drug for almost a month before he died in April of 2001.

 

Merck lawyers argued there was no proven link between heart problems

and use of the drug for less than 18 months and said there was doubt

whether Garza had taken the drug for more than a week. They said the

heart attack was the end result of Garza's 23 years of heart disease.

 

Attorneys for Garza's family asked the jury to award $22 million in

compensatory damages and $1 billion in punitive damages.

 

Escobedo said studies showed the drug caused " excess cardio events "

years before the drug was introduced and e-mails between Merck

employees and medical consultants showed doubt as to whether it should

be marketed to certain populations. He said Merck was in a race to

release a potential blockbuster arthritis drug and ignored its dangers.

 

In his closing statements, Josephson reviewed Garza's history of heart

disease, beginning with a quadruple bypass in 1989. He also noted

Garza's smoking habit.

 

" He had every single risk factor that you can have, " he said.

 

The case went to trial on Jan. 25, but the judge's schedule allowed

only one week of testimony each month.

 

Vioxx was pulled from the market in September 2004, when a study

showed it could double risk of heart attack or stroke if taken more

than 18 months.

 

Plaintiffs in this and other cases say Merck executives knew by 2000

to pull the drug because of its cardiovascular risks, but kept quiet

because the drug was so profitable.

 

___

 

AP Business Writer Theresa Agovino in New York contributed to this story.

 

2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The

information contained in the AP News report may not be published,

broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written

authority of The Associated Press.

 

 

2006 Inc. All rights reserved.

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