Merck Wins Vioxx Suit Brought by Texas Man

Merck & Co., the third-largest U.S. pharmaceutical company, won a lawsuit against its Vioxx painkiller after a state judge in New Jersey said a Texas man failed to prove that the drug caused his stomach pain and internal bleeding.

Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee in Atlantic City granted a motion for summary judgment to Merck, saying the plaintiff, Edgar Lee Boyd, was unable to show that he was hurt by Vioxx or by the company’s alleged failure to warn of the drug’s side effects.

Kent Jarrell, a spokesman for Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck, did not return a call seeking comment.

Shares of Merck fell 24 cents to $34.46.