Judge: Doctor Can't Testify in Vioxx Case
NEW ORLEANS — A physician called to testify that Vioxx caused a blood clot which killed a Florida man cannot do so, the judge in the first federal Vioxx lawsuit ruled Friday.
That appears to cut to the heart of Evelyn Irvin Plunkett's claim against manufacturer Merck & Co. in the death of her husband, Richard "Dickie" Irvin, who took the drug for a month.
Her attorneys had called Dr. Michael Graham as an expert to say that Vioxx could cause blood clots in that short a time and had caused the one that brought on Irvin's fatal heart attack in 2001.
But U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon ruled late Friday that Graham wasn't qualified to do that. He wrote that the doctor has no pharmacology training, isn't qualified to explain how Vioxx might cause a blood clot, has never prescribed it, and got most of his knowledge about the drug in an eight-hour review of medical articles, expert reports and trial transcripts.
"Dr. Graham is qualified to testify as to the existence of a thrombus and its role in Mr. Irvin's death. He is just not qualified to testify that Vioxx can cause a thrombus and did cause Mr. Irvin's thrombus," Fallon wrote.
Attorneys in the case have been told not to talk to reporters about it.
Merck spokesman Kent Jarrell said Fallon's order speaks for itself.
Merck's motion seeking Graham's disqualification said Plunkett apparently has dropped the three medical experts who testified in the first trial, held in Houston because of Hurricane Katrina.
Plunkett claims that Vioxx caused the blood clot by tamping down an enzyme that would otherwise thin the blood and prevent clots.
Although Fallon has told attorneys he wants to try to work out a settlement after the first four federal Vioxx trials, he also has set up a plan that could bring more cases for early trial.
The next two are scheduled in May and June.
By Feb. 15, attorneys for Merck and for the plaintiffs' steering committee are to draw up two lists of five cases for early trial, Fallon wrote in an entry filed on Friday. One list will be of Louisiana cases, the other of cases filed in federal courts outside Louisiana. Each side can eliminate two cases from the other side's list.
Fallon will choose from the remaining cases.
That appears to cut to the heart of Evelyn Irvin Plunkett's claim against manufacturer Merck & Co. in the death of her husband, Richard "Dickie" Irvin, who took the drug for a month.
Her attorneys had called Dr. Michael Graham as an expert to say that Vioxx could cause blood clots in that short a time and had caused the one that brought on Irvin's fatal heart attack in 2001.
But U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon ruled late Friday that Graham wasn't qualified to do that. He wrote that the doctor has no pharmacology training, isn't qualified to explain how Vioxx might cause a blood clot, has never prescribed it, and got most of his knowledge about the drug in an eight-hour review of medical articles, expert reports and trial transcripts.
"Dr. Graham is qualified to testify as to the existence of a thrombus and its role in Mr. Irvin's death. He is just not qualified to testify that Vioxx can cause a thrombus and did cause Mr. Irvin's thrombus," Fallon wrote.
Attorneys in the case have been told not to talk to reporters about it.
Merck spokesman Kent Jarrell said Fallon's order speaks for itself.
Merck's motion seeking Graham's disqualification said Plunkett apparently has dropped the three medical experts who testified in the first trial, held in Houston because of Hurricane Katrina.
Plunkett claims that Vioxx caused the blood clot by tamping down an enzyme that would otherwise thin the blood and prevent clots.
Although Fallon has told attorneys he wants to try to work out a settlement after the first four federal Vioxx trials, he also has set up a plan that could bring more cases for early trial.
The next two are scheduled in May and June.
By Feb. 15, attorneys for Merck and for the plaintiffs' steering committee are to draw up two lists of five cases for early trial, Fallon wrote in an entry filed on Friday. One list will be of Louisiana cases, the other of cases filed in federal courts outside Louisiana. Each side can eliminate two cases from the other side's list.
Fallon will choose from the remaining cases.
posted by Chris Placitella at 6:26 AM
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