A Tennessee man’s claim that the maker of the withdrawn painkiller Vioxx should be blamed for his 2003 heart attack has been rejected by a federal jury in New Orleans, the fourth victory for drug maker Merck & Co. in five federal trials.
The seven-member jury answered “no” on a verdict questionnaire when asked if evidence showed that Merck failed to adequately warn Anthony Dedrick’s doctors of any known risk posed by Vioxx, or that the lack of such a warning was a cause of Dedrick’s heart attack.
