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Merck asks judge to delay first wrongful death Vioxx trial

July 5, 2005

Merck & Co. has asked a judge to delay the first wrongful death trial over its recalled painkiller Vioxx. Asking the trial be postponed for at least 60 days, the company said it could not receive a fair trial if the Texas case begins as scheduled next week due to recent publicity about the drug.

Vioxx was taken off the market last September after research showed patients who took the drug for 18 months or longer more than doubled their risk for heart attack and stroke. Since the Vioxx recall, more than 2,400 Vioxx lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. In the first case scheduled for trial July 11, Merck said the possibility of Merck receiving a fair trial has been eliminated because of the lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on June 30 seeking $250 million in damages for Vioxx purchases.

According to Merck's motion, "the timing of the (state) lawsuit is hardly a coincidence." The Associated Press reported June 22 that Merck scientists had contacted company attorneys in 2000 about reformulating Vioxx because of cardiovascular side effect concerns, which Merck said in the filing cited a privileged attorney-client communication that could prejudice a jury.

The Houston attorney representing the woman in the first Vioxx case said he would oppose a delay, saying Merck had signed an agreement with him in May not to postpone the trial for reasons besides the health of the lead attorneys. The Vioxx case involves allegations that Vioxx caused her husband's 2001 death.

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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