The Vioxx Bust

I think my prediction that Vioxx litigation would prove to be a bust is proving to be all too accurate. Today, another Merck verdict, this time in Alabama, just the sort of state court "hellhole" that tort reformers always claim have never seen a plaintiff they couldn't love. Not a good sign for plaintiffs lawyers. The jurors report that the plaintiff in this case just had too many other risk factors for heart disease to blame Vioxx for a heart attack, what is becoming a common refrain. Of course, these are exactly the people who should not have been taking Vioxx, but from the perspective of a jury trying to assign blame, this is the same conclusion most sensible people would come to. Unless the plaintiff's lawyers have a bunch of 30-year-old triathletes in the pipeline, Vioxx litigation is pretty much doomed, I think.