A jury has awarded $47.5 million to an Idaho man after finding that the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx, made by Merck and Co., Inc., contributed to his heart attack.

Postal worker Frederick Humeston and his wife received $20 million in compensation and $27.5 million in punitive damages in the retrial, having lost their first trial against the US pharmaceutical company in 2005. Merck has now won nine cases and lost five in ongoing litigation around Vioxx, and face a grand total of roughly 28,000 cases over the drug.

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