UPDATE 1-N.J. court dismisses Vioxx medical monitoring suit
June 4th, 2008 | by admin |(Adds court, attorney comment, background, share price)
NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) - The New Jersey Supreme Courtruled that Vioxx users who suffered no known harm from thewithdrawn pain drug cannot sue Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to payfor medical tests and treatment by heart doctors, the drugmakersaid on Wednesday.
In the latest in a string of recent legal victories forMerck, the court agreed with a trial court that dismissed themedical monitoring suit in 2005. An appellate court later ruledthat the original dismissal was premature.
Under the ruling, former Vioxx users who were not hurt bythe drug will not be permitted to sue Merck to pay forelectrocardiograms and follow-up consultations withcardiologists.
Merck pulled the widely used arthritis and pain drug inSeptember 2004 after a study found it doubled the risk of heartattack and stroke in patients who used the medicine for atleast 18 months.
In its ruling, the court noted that the plaintiffs have notalleged any personal physical injury. “Thus, we conclude thatbecause plaintiffs cannot satisfy the definition of harm tostate a product liability claim under the Product LiabilityAct, plaintiffs’ claim for medical monitoring damages mustfail,” the court said.
Merck had argued that there is no medical sciencesupporting the plaintiffs’ position that they need to bemonitored for cardiovascular conditions almost four years afterVioxx was taken off the market.
“The New Jersey Supreme Court has made it clear that youcannot bring a medical monitoring claim unless you allege youwere injured by a product,” Merck attorney Ted Mayer said in astatement.
In recent weeks, Texas appeals courts have reversed a pairof multimillion-dollar jury awards against Merck and a NewJersey court reversed punitive damages and awards of legal feesand costs that had been levied against Merck in jury trials.
