LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Vioxx Heart Attack: Painkillers
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John McDarby of Park Ridge was a diabetic but otherwise happy and healthy 75-year-old grandfather who had been taking the painkiller Vioxx for four years when he suffered a heart attack in April 2004. His lawyer on Monday told a jury in Atlantic City that pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. is primarily to blame for that heart attack that rendered him a near invalid, and must be held accountable. "The worst part about this is that it didn't have to happen," said the attorney, Robert Gordon.
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Merck & Co.'s former painkiller Vioxx contributed to the heart attack of an Idaho postal worker, a state jury in Atlantic City ruled Monday. The jury awarded Frederick "Mike" Humeston and his wife $20 million in compensatory damages.
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A state jury found Merck & Co. liable Friday for the death of a 71-year-old man who had a fatal heart attack within a month of taking its painkiller Vioxx and ordered the company to pay $32 million. Merck said it would appeal.
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TESTIMONY: Mary Humeston said her husband took 50 milligrams of Vioxx the day he had his heart attack. But under cross-examination, Humeston acknowledged she did not keep close tabs on when her husband took Vioxx or other painkillers. Dr. Graham Wetherley testified that aside from damage to a single vessel in the lower part of Mike Humeston's heart, the Idaho postal worker's heart vessels were healthy.
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