Merck to pay $32 million for death of Leonel Garza
After laying off thousands of employees, Merck announced “strong financial results” this week, but as soon as shareholders started to celebrate, the bad news came – the company has been found guilty for the tragic death of Leonel Garza. In a major blow to the company, the jurors ordered it to pay as much as $32 million in damages.
In further bad news to the company, after a series of losses in Vioxx litigation – more recently in New Jersey where the company has to pay $13.5 million in damages to another victim John McDarby – it is now facing as many as 11,500 lawsuits. According to the FDA, as many as 60,000 Americans were killed by the popular painkiller that was aggressively promoted through television advertising.
In a familiar response, the company issued a press release attacking the deceased Leonel Garza. It also repeats the same arguments in the press release that it made during the trial but the jury was not convinced.
It is very clear that Merck is fighting a battle in which its chances of winning are declining with each case. While the company repeated its goal to keep fighting each victim one by one, analysts expect that the company will be forced to eventually settle the cases within a matter of months as more damaging evidence is presented in each trial. In the meantime, company’s lawyers are trying their desperate measures to get an upper hand.
Recommended reading: Medical journal confirmed that Merck lied about safety of Vioxx
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