Merck Vioxx Victim Wins $4.5 Million

 

Weitz & Luxenberg Wins $4.5 Million on Behalf of Vioxx Victim

Attorney Robert Gordon of Manhattan personal injury law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. (www.weitzlux.com) secured a $4.5 million verdict for John McDarby, a wheelchair-bound diabetic, who suffered a heart attack after taking the popular recalled painkiller, Vioxx.

New York, NY  - April 5, 2006 – Attorney Robert Gordon of Manhattan personal injury law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. (www.weitzlux.com) secured a $4.5 million verdict for John McDarby, a wheelchair-bound diabetic, who suffered a heart attack after taking the popular recalled painkiller, Vioxx (case # ATL L 1296-05).

Attorney Jerry Kristal, also of Weitz & Luxenberg, served as co-trial counsel.

The Atlantic City, New Jersey jury found that pharmaceutical giant Merck, Inc. failed to satisfactorily warn Mr. McDarby and the trial’s other plaintiff, Thomas Cona, that Vioxx increased their risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other serious cardiovascular side effects in long-term Vioxx use.

Mr. McDarby used Vioxx daily for four years.

While the jury found that Vioxx did not play a role in Mr. Cona’s heart attack, they did agree that Merck was guilty of consumer fraud, awarding $3,969 to Mr. McDarby and $45 to Mr. Cona. The jury found Merck both deceived doctors about Vioxx’s cardiovascular risks, and deliberately hid information about those risks from physicians.

Mr. Gordon and Mr. Cona’s lawyer, Mark Lanier, argued that Vioxx was released to the American marketplace with inadequate testing, that Merck ignored warning signs about the drug’s safety, failed to alert the FDA and federal regulators of its dangers, and spent hundreds of millions of dollars aggressively marketing a drug the company knew to be unsafe.

`Merck thought that this was going to be an easy win for them, and we said this is exactly the type of person who needed to be protected from Vioxx,'' said Mr. Gordon.

Vioxx was first marketed in 1999, and its sales grew to $2.5 billion annually. 20 million patients took Vioxx, which was billed as a “super aspirin,” until it was recalled in September of 2004.

There are now 10,000 pending Vioxx lawsuits, and Merck has set aside $970 million to fight each one individually.

Mr. McDarby collapsed when he suffered his heart attack on April 15, 2004. He broke a hip when he fell. Mr. Gordon sought compensatory damages for Mr. McDarby for his heart attack and hip fracture.

While Merck tried to argue that Mr. McDarby, an ex-smoker, had pre-existing risk factors, such as diabetes, that made him a likely candidate for a heart attack, Mr. Gordon argued that Merck was negligent in not properly alerting prescribing physicians and patients with someone like Mr. McDarby’s risk factors of what the dangers of taking Vioxx were.

Mr. Gordon described Mr. McDarby as ``exactly the type of person who needed to be protected from Vioxx.'' During his closing argument, Mr. Gordon demanded, ``When they say diabetes caused it, well, why didn't they warn about diabetes? When they say that age caused it why didn't you warn about older people?''

It is possible that Mr. McDarby’s verdict will be increased. On April 6, 2006, the jury will weigh punitive damages against Merck, after finding Vioxx played a “substantial” role in Mr. McDarby’s heart attack.

Mr. Gordon is Weitz & Luxenberg’s chief trial lawyer and a shareholder at the firm. He has served as lead trial counsel in several consolidated cases involving numerous plaintiffs and multiple defendants.

Mr. Gordon has obtained jury verdicts in excess of $392,000,000. He was appointed by the Honorable Shira Scheindlin, Southern District of New York, as Co-lead Counsel in the MTBE Litigation (MDL 1358).

He was also appointed by the Honorable Sam Pointer, Northern District of Alabama, to the Plaintiffs Steering Committee in the Breast Implant Multi-District Litigation (MDL 926), in which he served as Co-chair of the Science Subcommittee.

Mr. Gordon was also appointed by the Honorable Lewis Kaplan, Southern District of New York, to the Plaintiffs Steering Committee in the Rezulin Multi-District Litigation (MDL 1348) and by the Honorable Helen Freedman, New York State Supreme Court, as Co-liaison Counsel to the PSC and MDL in the consolidated state Rezulin litigation.

He was also appointed by the Honorable Michael J. Davis, District of Minnesota, to the Baycol Liaison Advisory Committee and the Compensation Subcommittee (MDL 1431). He lectures nationally and has published numerous articles on various aspects of complex litigation.

Mr. Gordon has been appointed to both the Scientific and Medical Integrity Committee and the ATLA List Committee of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America as well as the Committee on Tort Litigation of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Formerly an assistant district attorney in the felony jury unit of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and an adjunct professor at Temple University, Mr. Gordon was honored by the National Law Journal in 1995 as one of the top forty attorneys in the country under the age of 40.

Weitz & Luxenberg is one of America’s leading personal injury law firms. Located in downtown Manhattan, the firm employs 62 attorneys and over 250 support professionals.

Weitz & Luxenberg is seeking to represent individuals who have suffered heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular events after taking Vioxx. Interested parties may visit the firm’s corporate website at http://weitzlux.com/vioxxresourcecenter_1051.html, or call Weitz & Luxenberg at 1 (800) 476-6070 for more information and to receive a free case evaluation for a Vioxx lawsuit.

Contact: Jonathan Jaffe
Company Name: WEITZ & LUXENBERG, P.C.
Phone: 2125585682
Website: www.weitzlux.com

_______________________________________________________
Free trade and professional industry magazines are available at
http://www.consultant-directory.tradepub.com
_______________________________________________________
The Vioxx Search Engine provides listings of sites that provide
medical and legal information on Merck Vioxx:
http://www.vioxx-search-engine.com
_______________________________________________________
Lung Cancer caused by asbestos exposure is known as
Mesothelioma. Learn more about this killer cancer.
Visit http://www.Mesothelioma-Search-Engine.com
_______________________________________________________
JR Roberts, a Security Expert Witness can help you prosecute 
or defend your criminal or negligent liability case in court.
http://www.jrrobertssecurity.com/
__________________________________________________
http://www.legal-search-engine.com
http://www.drug-store-directory.com
__________________________________________________