Hung Jury Forces Mistrial in Calif. Joint Vioxx Trial

LOS ANGELES - A California judge has declared mistrials in a pair of Vioxx cases after jurors deadlocked over the question of whether Merck & Co. Inc. gave adequate warnings to the doctors of two men who allege Vioxx caused their heart attacks. Vioxx® Cases, JCCP No. 4247 (Calif. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty.).

On Jan. 18, the 12-member jury in the joint trial presided over by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Victoria G. Chaney failed to reach the necessary nine-member majority concerning whether the plaintiffs' physicians should have recognized the potential risks or side effects of Vioxx. Seven …