Fourth Texas Vioxx Suit Dropped

A Texas woman has dropped her Vioxx lawsuit against Merck -- just two weeks before the trial was to begin. This is the fourth case in the Texas proceedings to be dropped before going to trial.

The plaintiff alleged that Vioxx caused her heart attack, even though she smoked and had a family history of heart disease, along with several other risk factors, Merck said in an Oct. 24 release. The plaintiff also has a pending claim against another pharmaceutical company alleging heart injuries.

This case was one of two cases chosen by plaintiffs to be tried first in the state proceedings. The court dismissed the other case because the plaintiff failed to list his Vioxx claim as an asset when he filed for bankruptcy protection earlier. In August, plaintiffs dropped two of the cases selected by Merck.

As of Oct. 9, Merck had been served or named as a defendant in approximately 23,800 Vioxx-related lawsuits and approximately 275 putative class actions, according to the company's website. The claims of more than 3,000 plaintiff groups have been dismissed so far. That number includes more than 1,100 groups whose claims were dismissed with prejudice, either by the plaintiffs themselves or by the courts. Another 2,000 plaintiff groups have had their claims dismissed without prejudice.