Merck wins another Vioxx case

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Merck & Co. won its second courtroom Vioxx victory this week in a product liability trial, Merck said.

An Alabama state court jury on Friday found that the drugmaker did not hide the health risks associated with its withdrawn arthritis drug, according to the company. Gary Albright, who used Vioxx up until 2004, sued Merck (up $0.46 to $44.06, Charts), blaming the company for his 2001 heart attack.

"This plaintiff did have many pre-existing risk factors" and the heart attack "was a naturally occurring event," said Mike Brock, outside counsel for Merck, to CNNMoney.com, noting that the plaintiff had a 30-year history of hypertension, diabetes, obesity and untreated high cholesterol.

Brock said Albright's attorney tried, unsuccessfully, to incriminate the company by using e-mails from Merck employees that were critical of the Food and Drug Administration.

"I think this is a case of science prevailing over e-mails," said Brock.

Merck was also victorious on Wednesday, when a federal trial jury in New Orleans handed the company a not liable verdict, in another case where a former Vioxx patient blamed the drug for a heart attack.

Merck took Vioxx, an arthritis painkiller and former blockbuster, off the market in 2004, after a study linked the drug to increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Since then, more than 20,000 cases have been filed against Merck from former Vioxx patients and their families. Merck has vowed to fight the cases one-by-one.

So far, Merck - a drugmaker based in Whitehouse Station, N.J. - has won nine Vioxx cases in court, and plaintiffs have won four, according to Merck spokeswoman Casey Stavropoulos. Merck is appealing all its losses. One of the company's victories, in New Jersey Superior Court, was later set aside by the judge. In a separate federal case in New Orleans that Merck lost, the judge set aside punitive damages.

The next Vioxx trial will be held in a California court next week, said Merck.

Shares of Merck, a Dow component, rose about 0.5 percent after the verdict was announced. Merck is the No. 4 U.S. drugmaker, behind Pfizer (up $0.12 to $25.68, Charts), Johnson & Johnson (up $0.04 to $66.29, Charts) and Abbott Laboratories (up $0.44 to $48.54, Charts).

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