Third Vioxx case begins, Merck wins in UK

Nov. 29 (UPI) -- The first federal court case based on Merck's withdrawn painkiller Vioxx --and the second in Texas -- begins Tuesday.
The plaintiff in Merck's third Vioxx showdown is the widow of a Vioxx user who claims the drug caused the 2001 death of her husband, who reportedly had taken the pain reliever for about one month.
Federal suits based on Vioxx have been consolidated and are based in a Houston federal court, moving there from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Merck is fresh off a victory against another short-term Vioxx user in an Atlantic City, N.J.-based state court last month.
In that case, the plaintiff --who had taken the drug for about two weeks -- was unable to convince the jury that Vioxx had caused his heart attack.
But Merck saw its first Vioxx-related legal defeat last August in a Texas state court, when the White House Station, N.J.-based firm was ordered to pay $253 million in damages to the widow of a longterm Vioxx user.
Meanwhile, Merck saw a legal win in Britain this week, when more than 200 Vioxx plaintiffs lost their legal aid appeal, according to a BBC report issued Tuesday.
The ruling means many U.K. plaintiffs will no longer be able to mount compensation claims in British courts, the report said.
The British court overseeing the Vioxx cases also denied the insurance needed to pursue a claim on a no-win, no-fee basis, BBC said.
"The fact that we have not been able to achieve any sort of funding package to allow these cases to go ahead spells the end of drug litigation in this country," said Martyn Day, of London-based Leigh Day & Co Solicitors, who represented the plaintiffs.