Associated Press: Jurors side with Merck in Illinois Vioxx trial
Drug maker cleared over 2003 heart-attack death

EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois - Jurors in the Midwest's first trial over the once-blockbuster painkiller Vioxx on Tuesday cleared the drug's maker in the 2003 deadly heart attack of an obese 52-year-old woman.

The jury deliberated over two days before siding with Merck & Co., which had argued that Patty Schwaller's obesity and other health issues might have posed risks that better explain her collapse and sudden death.

Schwaller had taken Vioxx for about 20 months. Her husband claimed that Vioxx contributed to his wife's death and that Merck failed to sufficiently warn consumers that the drug increased the risk of cardiovascular problems.

The victory was Merck's 10th in 15 cases that have been tried in the mushrooming litigation over the drug Merck pulled off the market in 2004 after its research showed it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

During the monthlong trial, Merck lawyers insisted that Patty Schwaller had several risk factors for heart disease, including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and a sedentary lifestyle.

The 5-foot-2 woman's weight fluctuated between 250 pounds and 300 pounds for roughly two decades before her death, attorneys have acknowledged.

But attorneys for Schwaller's widower, Frank Schwaller, pressed that the woman had no heart attacks, strokes or symptoms of congestive heart disease before her fatal collapse, fueling their belief that Vioxx contributed to her demise....[MORE]