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Federal Vioxx Re-trial date set

December 27, 2005

U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon has announced the second round of the first federal Vioxx trial will begin on February 6, 2006 in New Orleans. The original trial was supposed to take place in New Orleans, but after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the original court, the case was moved to Houston, Texas. The first federal Vioxx case began on November 29, 2005. Fallon declared this case a mistrial after the jury could not reach a verdict after 18 hours of deliberation. According to two jurors, the group was unable to reach a unanimous decision because one of the jurors refused to absolve Merck of liability for the death of Richard Irvin, who suffered a fatal heart attack after taking Vioxx for one month.

This undecided vote left Merck with one win and one loss in the long battle over Vioxx liability. Merck recalled their top-selling painkiller, Vioxx, in September 2004 after studies found that taking Vioxx for more than 18 months doubled a patient's risk of suffering heart attack or stoke. An estimated 20 million people had used Vioxx by the time this drug was pulled from the shelves. There are approximately 7,000 pending lawsuits filed against Merck in state and federal courts on behalf of those allegedly injured by Vioxx.

The new trial in the federal Vioxx case will hear the case of a Florida wholesale seafood company manager who was prescribed Vioxx to treat back pain. After one month of Vioxx use, Mr. Irvin died of a heart attack. In the original trial, Merck alleged Irvin's heart attack was the result of clogged arteries. The company argued he had not taken Vioxx long enough to cause that type of damage. Evelyn Plunkett Irvin, Richard's widow argued that Vioxx was responsible for the blood clot that caused her husband's death.

For more information on the Vioxx, please contact us to confer with a Vioxx Lawyer and learn your legal rights and options.

 

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