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BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT
July 14, 2005: Merck, the beleaguered maker of Vioxx, prepares to defend itself legally against the first of potentially thousands of claims that the pain killer caused deaths as the trails are scheduled to open.
Though some analysts feel that the court battle, which aims to establish that the COX-2 inhibitor was a direct cause of death in some patients, could cost $10 billions or more to the company in terms of damage claims.
But the US drug major remains adamant that as soon as it was clear on the cardiovascular dangers of Vioxx it pulled the product voluntarily from the global marketplace.
Merck's lawyers attempted to delay the trial on the basis that the intense media coverage could unfairly prejudice jurors against Vioxx. However, they were unsuccessful and a Texas judge has started to select 12 jurors for what may be a month-long trial. Opening arguments and witness statements are expected to start.
However, early victories combined with rulings that penetrate the credibility of evidence pointing to Vioxx as a direct cause of death may take the wind out of subsequent claims, analysts said.
Conversely, a string of losses for Merck in the early stages may fuel the momentum of the entire prosecution case, and some fear that Merck's key points of defence lie in something of a indefinite area - proving that it did not keep hidden `secret' trials that revealed Vioxx' side effects and trying to disprove evidence, on a scientific level, that alleges a direct causal link with death.
While the company's move to withdraw the product in September last year indicate its acceptance of the risks associated with Vioxx, Merck is expected to focus on dissolving a number of cases from claimants who may not have taken the drug for a sufficient duration for it to have been the leading factor in their death. The company has argued that the severity of cardiovascular risk increases significantly only after 18 months of continuous treatment.
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