The jury found that Merck had acted responsibly in informing the medical community about the benefits and risks of the osteoporosis drug that was voluntarily withdrawn from the market in 2004 after being linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
This is the seventh liability case the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company has faced concerning Vioxx, in four of the cases it has been found not guilty. An eighth case is currently under way in Los Angeles.
In this case Elaine Doherty a 68-year-old woman from New Jersey alleged that she took Vioxx 25mg daily from June 28, 2001, until she suffered a heart attack on January 19, 2004, at age 65. She continued to take the medicine until Merck voluntarily withdrew it from the market in September 2004.
The jury found that although Merk did not adequately inform Mrs Doherty about the risks, they did inform her doctor.
In the case, Merck presented evidence that it carefully studied Vioxx before and after FDA approval, and consistently made the results of those studies available to the FDA and the medical community.