The Merck Vioxx Litigation: Pathological Scouting
Here’s another dispatch filed by WSJ reporter Heather Won Tesoriero from the federal Vioxx retrial in New Orleans:
The issue of whether Merck & Co.’s troubled painkiller caused the 2001 fatal heart attack of Richard “Dicky” Irvin could come down to a battle of the pathologists. And it seems Merck isn’t taking any chances: while the plaintiff’s expert pathologist Michael Alan Graham took the stand, Thomas Wheeler, a pathologist who is likely to testify for Merck next week, sat in the gallery, taking notes and appearing to size up his opponent. There was a even a “small world” professional nod, with Graham acknowledging that he’s known Wheeler since his residency and that “he’s a good pathologist.” Wheeler testified on Merck’s behalf in the first federal trial in December.
Graham explained to jurors the mechanics of Irvin’s heart attack. Using large-scale slides from the deceased’s autopsy, Graham testified that Irvin had a plaque rupture in an artery which led to a fatal, heart-attack-producing clot. But Judge Eldon E. Fallon put strict limits on Graham’s testimony, ruling that while the doctor could testify about the presence of a clot and whether the clot killed Mr. Irvin, Graham was barred from linking Vioxx to that clot. Judge Fallon wrote that Graham lacked the qualification or preparation to offer an opinion on Vioxx’s role:
To compensate for his lack of education, experience and training, Dr. Graham spent approximately eight hours reviewing sixty-seven scientific medical articles, nine depositions, four expert reports, and three days’ worth of trial transcripts—far less than this Court or any attorney in this case has spent reviewing Vioxx related materials . . . While the Court could further explain Dr. Graham’s lack of qualifications or his lack of a reliable scientific basis, it is enough to say that he is not qualified to render an opinion as to whether Vioxx can cause a thrombotic cardiovascular event or whether Vioxx did cause Mr. Irvin’s death.
Ouch. Still, on the stand, Graham went as far as to say that it was unlikely that Irvin would’ve died absent a catalyst, though, sticking to the Judge’s ruling, no catalyst was named.
Dr. Wheeler was on a 5:30 p.m. Continental flight back to Houston, where he’s based. When asked about his appearance in court earlier in the day, he smiled and said, “I was just watching
The issue of whether Merck & Co.’s troubled painkiller caused the 2001 fatal heart attack of Richard “Dicky” Irvin could come down to a battle of the pathologists. And it seems Merck isn’t taking any chances: while the plaintiff’s expert pathologist Michael Alan Graham took the stand, Thomas Wheeler, a pathologist who is likely to testify for Merck next week, sat in the gallery, taking notes and appearing to size up his opponent. There was a even a “small world” professional nod, with Graham acknowledging that he’s known Wheeler since his residency and that “he’s a good pathologist.” Wheeler testified on Merck’s behalf in the first federal trial in December.
Graham explained to jurors the mechanics of Irvin’s heart attack. Using large-scale slides from the deceased’s autopsy, Graham testified that Irvin had a plaque rupture in an artery which led to a fatal, heart-attack-producing clot. But Judge Eldon E. Fallon put strict limits on Graham’s testimony, ruling that while the doctor could testify about the presence of a clot and whether the clot killed Mr. Irvin, Graham was barred from linking Vioxx to that clot. Judge Fallon wrote that Graham lacked the qualification or preparation to offer an opinion on Vioxx’s role:
To compensate for his lack of education, experience and training, Dr. Graham spent approximately eight hours reviewing sixty-seven scientific medical articles, nine depositions, four expert reports, and three days’ worth of trial transcripts—far less than this Court or any attorney in this case has spent reviewing Vioxx related materials . . . While the Court could further explain Dr. Graham’s lack of qualifications or his lack of a reliable scientific basis, it is enough to say that he is not qualified to render an opinion as to whether Vioxx can cause a thrombotic cardiovascular event or whether Vioxx did cause Mr. Irvin’s death.
Ouch. Still, on the stand, Graham went as far as to say that it was unlikely that Irvin would’ve died absent a catalyst, though, sticking to the Judge’s ruling, no catalyst was named.
Dr. Wheeler was on a 5:30 p.m. Continental flight back to Houston, where he’s based. When asked about his appearance in court earlier in the day, he smiled and said, “I was just watching
posted by Chris Placitella at 6:10 AM
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