New Orleans Jury Finds for Merck in 4th Federal Vioxx Trial

NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana jury in the fourth federal Vioxx trial has absolved Merck & Co. Inc. of liability for a heart attack suffered by a Utah man who had used Vioxx for 10 1/2 months but stopped taking the drug four days before his injury. In Re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1657 (E.D. La.).

The five-man, two-woman jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana reached the verdict Nov. 15 after less than two hours of deliberation. Judge Eldon E. Fallon presided over the trial, which began Oct. 30.

In the case …