Jury Finds for Merck in New Jersey Vioxx Trial

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Jurors in New Jersey have absolved Merck of liability for a heart attack suffered by a 60-year-old Idaho postal worker who blamed his illness on the now-withdrawn arthritis drug Vioxx. Humeston v. Merck & Co. Inc., No. ATL-L-2272-03 (N.J. Super. Ct., Atlantic Cty.).

The jury returned the verdict at about 10:30 a.m. today, Nov. 3, in the Atlantic County Superior Court. The trial on liability and compensatory damages, which began last month, was presided over by Judge Carol E. Higbee.

Humeston, a 60-year-old Vietnam veteran who suffered a wartime shrapnel injury to his knee, claims he …