Vioxx plaintiff awarded $9m in punitive damages

A JURY yesterday awarded $9 million (€7.4m) in punitive damages to a man who blamed his heart attack on Vioxx, finding that manufacturer Merck failed to warn about the risks of its arthritis drug and misrepresented the risks to physicians.

The damages are in addition to $4.5m (€3.7m) already awarded to John McDarby, 77, of Park Ridge, who suffered a heart attack after four years on Vioxx, a painkiller taken by 20 million Americans before being pulled off the market.

In its only other loss in a Vioxx case, Merck was ordered last August to pay $253m (€208m) to the widow of a man who died after taking the drug for a short time.