Calif. Plaintiff Proposes Special Verdict Form to Reduce Juror Confusion

LOS ANGELES - The plaintiff in California's next scheduled Vioxx trial has submitted a proposed verdict form he says is less complex than the form used by jurors who recently forced a mistrial after deadlocking over the question of whether Merck & Co. Inc. gave adequate warnings to plaintiffs' physicians. Vioxx® Cases, JCCP No. 4247 (Calif. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty.).

Lowell Berwick says in a supplemental brief filed Feb. 26 in the Los Angeles County Superior Court that his proposed verdict form is based upon a combination of several Book of Approved Jury Instructions (BAJI) special verdict forms rather …