Third California Vioxx Trial A No-Go; Plaintiff Berwick Drops Case Day Before Jury Selection Was To Start
Judge Victoria Chaney To Consider Status Of Upcoming California State Court Vioxx Trials At April 11, 2007 Hearing
(Posted by Tom Lamb at DrugInjuryWatch.com)
Plaintiff Lowell Berwick, who claimed his March 2004 heart attack at age 61 was caused by his ten-months use of Vioxx, dropped his lawsuit against Merck & Co. on April 9, 2007, the day before jury selection for his California state court trial was to start.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney -- who is overseeing the consolidated California Vioxx litigation, Vioxx Cases, JCCP No. 4247 (California Superior Court, Los Angeles County) -- granted the motion to dismiss filed by Mr. Berwick's attorneys.
An April 9, 2007 report from a Los Angeles CBS affiliate stated that Kent Jarrell, a spokesman for the law firm representing Merck, said the plaintiff's lawyer had requested that this case be dismissed because Mr. Berwick was concerned about a possible negative affect on his health from the anticipated lengthy trial. The report stated, also, that Mr.Berwick's lawyer was not immediately available for comment.
The Berwick case would have been the third Vioxx case to go to trial in California.
The first California Vioxx trial involved 71-year old Stewart Greenberg, who suffered a heart attack after using Vioxx; that trial ended with a verdict for Merck in August 2006.
The second Vioxx trial in California involved two plaintiffs, 56-year old Lawrence Appell and 77-year old Rudolph Arrigale, both of whom suffered heart attacks after using Vioxx; that trial ended with Judge Chaney declaring a mistrial on January 18, 2007.
According to the Los Angeles CBS report, at an April 11, 2007 hearing Judge Chaney will review and consider the status of other California state court Vioxx cases that might go to trial in 2007.
P.S. On his blog, Legal Underground, St. Louis attorney Evan Schaeffer has posted the most recent list of federal court and state court Vioxx trial settings through October 2007, which he reports was compiled by the Plaintiffs' and Defendants' Liaison Counsel in the federal court Vioxx MDL litigation.
