Vioxx Saga Continues
December 13, 2008
Last May, a Texas appellate court spiked a $32 million (later reduced to $7.75 million) award to the family of a man who had a fatal a heart attack while taking Vioxx pain medication. The WSJ Law Blog reports that the appellate court concluded there was insufficient evidence that the man, who had a pre-existing heart condition, suffered the heart attack as a result of taking the drug. But now the appellate court has reversed its May ruling, sending the case back to trial with “legally sufficient evidence to support a finding of specific causation” – tilting the legal playing field sharply in the direction of the plaintiffs’ lawyers trying the case.