Merck stock tumbles after Vioxx verdict

No. 2 U.S. drugmaker stung by loss in latest case over withdrawn painkiller; 10,000 more suits loom.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Merck stock tumbled Thursday, a day after the nation's No. 2 drugmaker was found liable for the heart attack of a New Jersey man who took Vioxx and a jury awarded $4.5 million in damages.

Merck (Research) stock sank about 4 percent in morning New York Stock Exchange trading.

A jury in Atlantic City, N.J., late Wednesday awarded John McDarby and his wife $4.5 million in compensatory damages in their suit against Merck. But in a split verdict, Tom Cona, the second plaintiff in the case, received virtually no award. Both men had blamed their non-fatal heart attacks on the arthritis painkiller.

Merck has won verdicts in two trials and has been liable in two others. The drugmaker, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., still faces about 10,000 lawsuits from plaintiffs who blame the arthritis painkiller Vioxx for their heart attacks. Merck pulled Vioxx off the market on Sept. 30, 2004 after a study demonstrated that the drug increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Despite the knee-jerk drop in stock price following Wednesday's verdict, some analysts said that possible liability of up to $30 billion has been priced into the stock, and that Merck shares should eventually recover.

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