A US jury last night found that pharmaceutical company Merck failed to warn Vioxx users of the drug's heart risks and ordered it to pay a 77-year-old man at least $4.5m.
The decision is seen as raising questions about the company's future defence of thousands of lawsuits filed over the medicine.
The jury determined that the company knew or should have known that its pain drug increased the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events, but did not adequately warn users or their doctors.
In a split decision after about 14 hours of deliberation, the jury said Vioxx had been a substantial contributing cause of a heart attack suffered by 77-year-old plaintiff John McDarby but determined that the drug was not a significant cause of a heart attack suffered by a second plaintiff, Thomas Cona. Both men blamed the drug for their attacks.
Merck was also found to have misrepresented and concealed the heart risks of Vioxx when marketing the drug to doctors. However, the jury found that Merck did not commit consumer fraud in its efforts to sell the drug. Jurors awarded $4.5m in compensatory damages to McDarby but nothing to Cona.
The trial now moves into the punitive phase in the case of McDarby. Jurors will determine later on Thursday whether McDarby is entitled to punitive damages on top of the compensatory damages he was awarded. Punitive damages are capped at five times the amount set for compensatory damages under New Jersey state law.
Former Merck chief executive Raymond Gilmartin is expected to appear at Thursday's hearing to explain the company's actions over Vioxx.
In previous trials, Merck was able to argue that there was no evidence of increased heart risk associated with short-term use of the pain medicine. Because Cona and McDarby were both long-term Vioxx users, this trial has been particularly closely watched for indications of how future cases might play out.
Merck voluntarily pulled the $2.5 billion a year drug from the market in September 2004 after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke among people who used it for at least 18 months.
