Merck Wins New Trial on Vioxx Award

Article in today’s Los Angeles Times — Merck Wins New Trial on Vioxx Award, from Reuters:

    A judge Wednesday threw out a $50-million jury award against Merck & Co.,
    calling it excessive for a former FBI agent who had suffered a heart attack while
    using the drug maker’s Vioxx painkiller, and ordered a new trial on damages.

    In a written ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon found that the jury’s
    findings on Merck’s liability were reasonable, but that the $50-million compensatory
    damage assessment was not.