>From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
>
>Wall Street Journal - August 22, 2005
>
>Side Effects
>
>Merck Loss Jolts
>Drug Giant, Industry
>
>... Jurors who voted against Merck said much of the science sailed
>right over their heads. "Whenever Merck was up there, it was like wah,
wah, wah,"
>said juror John Ostrom, imitating the sounds Charlie Brown's teacher
>makes in the television cartoon. "We didn't know what the heck they
>were talking about." ...
___________________________________
As a trial lawyer I've been involved in many complex medical malpractice cases that have dealt with arcane matters of medical science and difficult issues of causation. It is possible to make such matters understandable to a jury of laypersons, and least for purposes of establishing legal liability under American law. I haven't been following this case, but it sounds like either Merck's attorneys didn't do their job very well; or the jurors just disregarded Merck's expert testimony. If this case took place in California, and I were in Mr. Lanier's shoes, I'd be a little concerned about some the comments that these jurors have allegedly made. But, then, I've been told that Texas has an unusually liberal evidence code, so perhaps this is just par for course in the Lone Star State.