Winning the Drug Lottery

Yesterday, a widow from Texas won the lottery, the drug lottery. Her lawyer managed to convince a group of jurors (whose scientific expertise is probably nil) that her husband's death was the result of the drug Vioxx, and that his death was worth $253 million dollars. Apparently this guy pooped gold and diamonds for a living, because that's the only way you could come close to justifying that award.

I don't know whether Vioxx was the source of his problems; the medical evidence pointed to arrhythmia which could have been caused by a number of factors. The guy had appeared healthy, running marathons and such, but if you've been around for awhile, you'll remember Jim Fixx, a fitness and jogging guru from the past who died at an early age from heart disease, despite his physical prowess. Sometimes the genes just don't cooperate with your exercise routine.

If in fact Vioxx was the source of this guy's problem, then an award might be justified, but $253 million is way off the charts and will certainly be reduced on appeal, if not thrown out altogether. I'm getting a little tired of juries who feel they have to "send a message" by awarding outrageous judgments that simply can't be justified.

There is another obvious danger with these huge, unwarranted judgments. Why should the drug industry continue to research and create new treatments if, after receiving Federal approval, they can be bankrupted by juries made up of people with no knowledge of the science involved? You take a weepy widow and a self-righteous lawyer, and the jury is putty in their hands. Anyone who saw the lawyer's press conference will realize that this guy thought he was on a crusade to put Merck out of business, and he may have done just that.

People will die as a result of Vioxx, but not for the reasons you may think. They'll die because a drug company somewhere decided not to pursue a treatment that could have saved them due to the fear of economic disaster if somewhere down the road an unanticipated side effect appears.

Here's an idea that will never happen, but just might save the drug industry. Once a drug has been tested and found safe and effective for the desired use by Federal regulators, all liability should be shifted to the government. If an unanticipated side effect pops up somewhere down the road, persons seeking redress should be required to take their complaints to the FDA and not be allowed to sue the drug companies. This may be the only way to ensure that we have a pharmaceutical industry that's still willing to research and create new treatments.

Otherwise, every future prescription may read: "Take a glass of water and call me when you need me to sign the death certificate."