First Fosamax Trial Against Merck Begins Today

Am Law Daily’s Priti Patnaik writes about the Boles case:

Starting Tuesday, pharma giant Merck & Co., Inc. faces the first trial over its osteoporosis drug Fosamax. More than 900 such lawsuits have been filed by more than 1,200 plaintiffs in state and federal courts. The suits claim that doctors were not warned that the drug may hamper blood flow to the jaw, causing jawbone-tissue death–osteonecrosis of the jaw, or ONJ. In some cases, ONJ leads to partial removal of the jaw.

Plaintiff Shirley Boles, 71, is represented by partner Timothy O’Brien and associates Meghan Tans and Ned McWilliams of Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Echsner & Proctor. Michelle Parfitt and James Green at Ashcraft & Gerel are also working on the case.

Merck’s trial team includes Paul Strain of Venable in Baltimore and Christy Jones of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Steves & Cannada. Both represented Merck in the marathon Vioxx litigation. The company declined to name the other attorneys working on the case, saying that the information was part of its litigation strategy.

Interestingly, Judge Keenan has ruled that no punitive damages may be sought.

BGS