Defense Score

Merck Witness Challenges ER Doctor in Vioxx Trial | WSJ | 7.21.05

ANGLETON, Texas — Merck & Co.’s top epidemiologist testified Thursday that an emergency room doctor was too quick to blame a heart attack for the sudden death of a Texas man at the center of the nation’s first Vioxx-related lawsuit to go to trial.

There is absolutely no way an ER doctor can make a diagnosis of sudden death by Vioxx—this is either an inaccurate recollection of the plaintiff or the ER doctor was engaged in sheer hyperbole and deserves to be shredded in the witness stand.

“The ultimate diagnosis comes from an autopsy,” Dr. Santanello told Merck attorney Gerry Lowry in her fourth day on the witness stand.

Absolutely!

Mr. Ernst’s autopsy said he died of arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, secondary to plaque buildup in two major arteries. He took Vioxx for eight months before he died to relieve pain in his hands.

Conclusion and association—surely the plaintiff has got more than this? With this the first of 4,200 state and federal Vioxx suits, there are going to be lots of associations, but with well in excess of 90% of cardiac deaths associated [dys]ryhthmias—how will mere expected association show causality?