Wampum

One Down….

Four thousand to go. From Business Week:

A Texas jury found pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. liable Friday for the death of a man who took the once-popular painkiller Vioxx, awarding his widow $253.4 million in damages in the first of thousands of lawsuits pending across the country.

A seven-man, five-woman jury deliberated for 10 1/2 hours over two days before returning the verdict. Merck said it plans to appeal.

Mrs. Ernst began to cry when the verdict was read while her attorneys jumped up and shouted, "Amen!"

Congratulations to Mrs. Ernst and to her lawyer Mark Lanier. Lanier is a premier trial lawyer and his advocacy of Mrs. Ernst’s position was, by all accounts I have seen, and from what I hear from people who attended parts of he trial, superb.

Merck may want to consider trying to settle a few of the thousands of remaining cases. They may also want to reconsider whether it is wise to play fast and lose with evidence that their products put their customer’s health at risk.

Note: It is my understanding that Texas law caps punitive damages at twice economic losses plus $750,000. See here.

If that is the case, then $229 million of punitive damages will be reduced to about $1.65 million. The total judgment will then be a little over $26 million.

Posted by Dwight Meredith at August 19, 2005 04:04 PM