Merck must pay $48 million to Vioxx victim

Frederick Mike Humeston lost his first Vioxx trial since the company hid crucial and damaging evidence from the jurors. New Jersy Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee did the right thing by granting him a retrial. Last week, Humeston got a favorable decision in his case.

Merck has now been directed by a jury to pay as much as $47.5 million to Humeston and his wife - $20 million in compensatory and $27.5 million in punitive damages.

Now don't expect the company to simply write him a check right away. The company will do anything possible to deny him (and all other Vioxx victims who have won their cases) any compensation for his heart attack and suffering. "We disagree with today's jury's verdict," said Hope Freiwald of Dechert LLP, a member of Merck's defense team. "The last time a jury considering the Humeston case had a chance to hear all the evidence at one time it found that Merck acted responsibly." Merck has objected to the structure of the trial because of the potential for jury confusion and bias.