Summary Judgment Awarded to Merck in Wrongful Death Case

BOONEVILLE, Miss. - A Mississippi Circuit Court Judge awarded summary judgment to Merck after finding that a man could not prove that his wife's ingestion of Vioxx contributed to her death. Ralph Lauderdale, individually, and as next of kin of deceased, Deborah Lauderdale, v. Merck & Co., Inc., et al., No. CV01-241G (Miss. Cir. Ct., Prentiss Cty.).

Prentiss County Circuit Court Judge Thomas G. Edwards, III, entered an order granting the drug maker's motion for summary judgment on July 18 after finding that plaintiff Ralph Lauderdale could not provide evidence to show that the arthritis drug caused his wife's death …