Mistrial declared in Vioxx lawsuit
Merck & Co emerged from its third Vioxx trial yesterday with a hung jury when the panel failed, in about 18 hours of deliberations over three days, to side with the drugmaker or with the wife of a 53-year-old Florida man who died after taking Vioxx for about a month.
The mistrial means Merck, which already had a one and one record in Vioxx litigation, was unable to gain any momentum in its battle against thousands of other expected lawsuits related to the drug, which was withdrawn from the market last year after being linked to cardiovascular problems.
