Merck Says It Will Appeal $32 Million Texas Vioxx Case (Insurance Journal) A Texas state jury found Merck & Co. liable for the death of a 71-year-old man who had a fatal heart attack within a month of taking its since-withdrawn painkiller Vioxx and ordered the company to pay [News Source]

Vioxx verdicts a mixed bag; Merck vows to keep fighting (Pioneer Press) NEW YORK — After millions in expenses and hundreds of hours of court time in six trials, neither Merck & Co. nor plaintiffs have captured the upper hand in the litigation blizzard that followed the withdrawal of the pain medication Vioxx, experts say. [News Source]

Merck found liable in latest Vioxx case (The Philadelphia Inquirer) A state jury found Merck & Co. Inc. liable yesterday for the death of a 71-year-old man who had a fatal heart attack within a month of taking its since-withdrawn pain-reliever Vioxx and ordered the company to pay $32 million. Merck said it would appeal. [News Source]

$28 million plus $6,900 a day? Ouch! (Orlando Sentinel) The Altamonte Springs woman who won a $28 million medical malpractice verdict in Sanford two weeks ago moved a tiny step closer to collecting that money. Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson on Wednesday entered a judgment in favor of Jeanette Davis against gynecologist Dr. Robert Bowles. The judge also ordered the doctor to pay 9 percent interest. That means the doctor, or his insurer, must pay $6,900 [News Source]

Jury selection starts Monday (Neosho Daily News) Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in a wrongful death lawsuit involving the Neosho R-5 School District. On Dec. 16, 2004, 6-year-old Jacob Wright was killed when he apparently fell beneath the wheels of a Neosho school bus that had just dropped him off at his home. [News Source]

Merck Loses Vioxx Suit in Texas (New York Times) Merck was found liable for the death of a man who took Vioxx for less than a month before he died. [News Source]