Court awards claimant $13.5m in rofecoxib lawsuit

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7547.927-a

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Janice Hopkins Tanne

New York

A jury in New Jersey has awarded $4.5m (£2.6m; €3.7m) in compensatory damages to a 77 year old man who claimed that rofecoxib (Vioxx) had caused his heart attack. The jury decided that Merck, the maker of the cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitor, had deceived the US Food and Drug Administration about the safety of the drug and awarded the man an additional $9m in punitive damages.

Merck said it had given the FDA all the necessary information about rofecoxib and would appeal the ruling.

The jury decided that the heart attack …