In Madison County, a jury was selected to consider a widower's claims that Merck's drug is the culprit in his 52-year-old wife's fatal heart attack.
Patricia Schwaller is the deceased. She too Vioxx for more than 20 months before she died suddenly Aug. 8, 2003, her family's attorneys say. The woman had no previous heart attacks, strokes or symptoms of congestive heart disease according to her attorneys.
My opinion: For now the defense for Merck has been on limited fronts - the MDL, New Jersey, and California. Texas is plodding along. Illinois is another battleground now, and this case is one where the usage is more than the eighteen month period that Merck has said would be a floor in considering any possible causal link.
Stay tuned.
