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Subscribe To Our Syndicated NewsJournal Editor Reverses Vioxx Testimony
February 14, 2006
As the retrial of the first federal Vioxx case entered its second week, the jury heard testimony from the grieving family of Richard "Dickie" Irvin, who allegedly died from a heart attack caused by Vioxx side effects. The jury also heard testimony from the executive editor of the New England Journal of Medicine about information that was hidden by Merck when clinical studies about its painkiller Vioxx were published.
A grieving girl speaks
In the first week of the Vioxx retrial, jurors heard testimony from Irvin's youngest daughter about how difficult it has been for her sister and mom to deal with their father's death. Ashley Irvin, aged 17 when her father died, testified that the pain of losing his is as bad now as it was then. "People say it gets better over time. It doesn't," she sobbed.
Before his death she had plans to go to college. Her father's death has torn the family apart so much that Ashley lost the opportunity to go to a university and has dropped out of community college. Her mom and sister needed her, she said.
A critical expert testifies
Yesterday, the New England Journal of Medicine's executive director, Gregory Curfman M.D., testified in the Vioxx case. In this testimony, he reversed previous statements made in the original Vioxx trial and exposed criticism of Merck's handling of important clinical trial data.
During his testimony, Curfman stated that Merck had failed to disclose crucial safety data from the VIGOR study, designed to compare the effects of naproxen to Vioxx. VIGOR's authors deleted evidence of three heart attacks in Vioxx users and knowingly jumped to unwarranted conclusions about the data that was reported.
Defense begins
This week of the Federal Vioxx retrial begins with the defense's case-in-chief. Merck will try to refute claims that Vioxx caused Richard Irvin's heart attack and that the company hid Vioxx dangers in its mad dash to gain FDA approval for this painkiller.
If the jurors do not believe the defense's first point, the second will be rendered moot.
For more information on the Vioxx trial, please contact us to confer with a Vioxx Recall Lawyer and learn your legal rights and options.
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