Pathologist Deals Blow to Merck in Vioxx Lawsuit

Jurors in the Vioxx trial heard testimony Monday from a pathologist who said the death of a man taking the drug was more than likely caused by a heart attack -- damaging Merck & Co.’s defense in the first Vioxx liability case to reach trial.

The videotaped testimony from Dr. Maria Araneta, a former assistant coroner for the Johnson County medical examiner’s office near Fort Worth, was shown to the jury almost immediately after the Texas Supreme Court denied Merck’s attempt to stop jurors from hearing it.

Merck, the drug’s New Jersey-based maker, was relying heavily on Araneta’s autopsy report, which said that Robert Ernst, 59, died as a result of an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, secondary to clogged arteries. Merck says no studies show a link between taking Vioxx and a higher risk of arrhythmia.

In the deposition, Araneta said she thought Ernst’s 2001 death from arrhythmia was more than likely caused by a heart attack.

Neither her report nor Ernst’s death certificate identify a heart attack as the cause of his death.

Merck attorney Joseph Piorkowski asked Araneta whether she was changing her conclusion in the autopsy report.

“I’m not changing my opinion, I’m just explaining it further,” she said. “That’s the autopsy report, but it’s not the end of the story.”

The deposition by Araneta -- now a pathologist in the United Arab Emirates -- bolstered the plaintiff’s contention that a heart attack was triggered by Ernst’s arrhythmia but that he died too quickly for his heart to show damage.

“I did not see a myocardial infarction [heart attack], but it’s common knowledge that in sudden death the heart does not have time to undergo these changes,” Araneta said.

The Ernst case is the first of more than 4,200 lawsuits related to the once-popular painkiller to go before a jury.