Posted on 07/29/2005 11:21:36 AM PDT by The SISU kid
ANGLETON - The first Vioxx lawsuit trial in the country has already gone to a state appeals court - even though the trial itself is not yet half over.
Attorneys for pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. filed a motion in the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston today seeking to block the testimony of pathologist Dr. Maria Araneta.
"The trial court abused any applicable discretion by allowing trial by ambush," Merck said in its petition.
Araneta performed the 2001 autopsy of Robert Ernst. His widow, Carol Ernst, claims he died as a result of taking the once-popular painkiller Vioxx.
Her autopsy reported that Ernst died of arrythmia, or an irregular heart beat.
Merck contends that Vioxx could not have caused Ernst's death because he died of arrythmia and took the drug for only about eight months before he died.
The company stopped selling the drug in September after a long-term study showed that patients who took Vioxx had increased danger of heart attacks and strokes after taking the drug for more than 18 months.
Araneta said in a deposition away from the jury Tuesday that she thinks Ernst had a heart attack, which caused his arrythmia. Damage to his heart wasn't seen because he died so quickly, she said.
Attorney Mark Lanier, who represents Carol Ernst, plans to call Araneta to the witness stand Monday.
Merck attorneys sought to have her testimony blocked because Lanier didn't list her as a possible witness until July 11, the day the trial started. Texas court rules say that in most cases the identities of possible witnesses have to be shared with opposing attorneys in advance of the trial.
Lanier said he didn't list Araneta earlier because he didn't know where she was. One of his investigators found her living and working in the United Aram Emirates the day before the trial started.
He paid to have her flown back to Texas to testify.
State district judge Ben Hardin ruled Thursday that Araneta's testimony wouldn't be unfair to Merck's legal team.
Merck attorneys asked appeals justices to put a stay on Araneta's testimony - meaning the jury couldn't hear what she has to say until the appeals court rules that she can or can't testify.
Lanier has claimed that Merck unerplayed or hid research data that showed Vioxx posed dangers to patients who took it.
Almost 4,300 Vioxx-related lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts around the country.
richard.stewart@chron.com
SCUM-SUCKING LAWYERS ALERT
I want my vioxx back!
Must have taken longer than they thought for the plaintiff's attorneys to negotiate a price for her to change her testimony. She didn't realize he died from a heart attack until she found out how much she could get for her testimony. I guess the trial judge has already been paid off.
I'm not sure if the heart problems people had were definitely related to vioxx (it seemed to me that some heart problems may have been unrelated; it was not as controlled a study as it might have been), but I do know my back pain was sure held in check when I was on it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.