Texas Supreme Court Imposes Strict Standards Governing Use Of Epidemiological Evidence In Proving Causation

Previously published on September 7, 2011.

Keywords: Product liability, causation, Havner, Vioxx, totality of evidence

The Texas Supreme Court recently held that plaintiffs seeking to prove general causation with epidemiological evidence must produce two independent studies demonstrating that subjects who used the product at issue under circumstances substantially similar to those encountered by the plaintiff doubled their the risk of injury. Merck & Co. v. Garza, 2011 WL 3796364 (Tex. Aug. 26, 2011).

Leonel Garza, a 71-year old with a 20-year history of heart disease, died of a heart attack less than one month after he began taking the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx. Garza's family sued Merck, the manufacturer of Vioxx, alleging defective design and inadequate warnings. A jury awarded the Garzas $7 million in actual damages and $25 million in punitive damages (reduced to $750,000).

The court of appeals held that plaintiffs introduced sufficient evidence that Vioxx caused Garza's death, rejecting Merck's argument that plaintiffs' causation evidence was inadequate under the...