Last week, a Texas jury awarded $253 million in damages to the plaintiff suing Merck over Vioxx. There are two problems with this judgement against Merck.:

First, the plaintiff's husband did not die from a heart attack, he died from a irregular heartbeat. Vioxx increases the risk of heart attack.

Second, the jury claimed that Merck was negligent in reporting the dangers of Vioxx to consumers. This seems a bit of a stretch since Merck pulled Vioxx as soon as conclusive evidence from the recent study showed the risk. Additionally, Merck diclosed for many years that there is the possibility of increased heart attack.

It's not as if Vioxx causes heart attacks per se. It just increases the possibility of heart attacks if you are already at risk. But Cox-2 inhibitors are the only source of non-opiate pain relief for many people and quite worth the risk. But of course thousands of people are lined up to roll the dice in the courtroom.