MSD ordered to pay Euro 50,000 damages in Spanish Vioxx case
In the first Spanish ruling against Merck, Sharp & Dohme's (MSD) anti-inflammatory Vioxx, a Spanish court has ordered the company to pay Euro 50,000 to a 56-year old woman who claimed she suffered a stroke from the drug, according to news reports.
In the first Spanish ruling against Merck, Sharp & Dohme's (MSD) anti-inflammatory Vioxx, a Spanish court has ordered the company to pay Euro 50,000 to a 56-year old woman who claimed she suffered a stroke from the drug, according to news reports.
An MSD spokesman said the company would appeal against the decision.
In the ruling handed down 19 June, the Madrid court said that while it was difficult to determine the direct cause and effect relationship between the medicine and the woman's stroke, MSD was at fault because it marketed the drug "without the necessary safety guarantees", El Pais reported.
The court also said that the worldwide withdrawal of Vioxx in 2004 because of cardiovascular side effects "corroborated" that there were risks from using the medicine.
The woman took 12.5mg a day of Vioxx for two years, primarily for osteoarthritis pain. Her lawyers had originally asked for €250,000 in damages but the court cut the award to one-fifth of that figure. They are planning an appeal to seek the original monetary demand, the newspaper said.
MSD said it would appeal on three issues. "Firstly, it was never proven that the woman even took Vioxx; secondly, she smoked up to two packs of cigarettes a day and that is a known risk factor for strokes; and thirdly, it has never been shown that Vioxx causes strokes," said the spokesman.
The company noted that in all previous court cases in Spain involving Vioxx, the cases were either thrown out or were decided in favour of MSD.