Merck & Co. has decided to appeal the verdict announced by a state court jury in Brazoria County, Texas, in favour of the plaintiff in the Vioxx product liability lawsuit Ernst v. Merck. The Texas jury had found Merck liable for the death of a man who took the once-popular painkiller Vioxx and awarded his widow $253.4 million in damages in the first of thousands of lawsuits pending across the country.

Jury in the semi-rural county rejected Merck's argument that Robert Ernst, 59, died of clogged arteries rather than a Vioxx-induced heart attack that led to his fatal arrhythmia.

"We believe that the plaintiff did not meet the standard set by Texas law to prove Vioxx caused Ernst's death," Jonathan Skidmore of Fulbright & Jaworski, a member of Merck's defense team said adding, "There is no reliable scientific evidence that shows Vioxx causes cardiac arrhythmias, which an autopsy showed was the cause of Ernst's death, along with coronary atherosclerosis."

"This case did not call for punitive damages," said Skidmore. "Merck acted responsibly - from researching Vioxx prior to approval in clinical trials involving almost 10,000 patients - to monitoring the medicine while it was on the market - to voluntarily withdrawing the medicine when it did," added Skidmore.

"We believe that we have strong points to raise on appeal and are hopeful that the appeals process will correct the verdict," Kenneth C. Frazier, senior vice president and general counsel of Merck said adding, "Our appeal is about fundamental rights to a fair trial."

"There are other Vioxx cases coming to trial and we will vigorously defend them one by one over the coming years," Frazier added.