Merck has reason to celebrate this weekend.

A state appeals court in Texas overturned a $26 million jury verdict against the company in a lawsuit brought by Carol Ernst, whose husband, Robert, died in 2001 after taking Vioxx. In reversing the verdict, the appeals court found that plaintiffs had not proved that Vioxx caused Mr. Ernst’s death.

In addition, an appeals court in New Jersey reduced a verdict in another Vioxx case. The court ruled that the jury should not have been allowed to award punitive damages against Merck or to find that Merck had committed consumer fraud. Only compensatory damages of $4.5 million were permitted, the court said.

There have been 20 Vioxx cases that have been tried, and thus far, only three have been won by plaintiffs.

Some interesting comments from people involved in the Texas and New Jersey trials can be found on Ashby Jones’ Wall Street Journal blog.

Of course, this raises the question, did Vioxx settle too soon with earlier cases? And should patients be allowed to sue drug-makers in the first place?

An interesting side note… when you Google “Vioxx,” the following things come up:

• “Need a Vioxx Attorney?”
• “Vioxx Lawsuit Cash Now”
• “Didn’t Get Enough from Your Vioxx Lawsuit?

The three top searches on WorstPills.org are the asthma and allergy drug Singulair, the birth control pill Yasmin, and the herbal supplement glucosamine and chondroitin.

Singulair is listed as a “do not use” pill because it is less effective than other drugs and can cause blood vessel inflammation, liver disease, lupus and recurrences of ulcerative colitis.

Yasmin is listed as a “do not use” pill because it can cause increased blood levels of potassium and is no more effective than other oral contraceptives in preventing pregnancy.

Glucosamine and Chondroitin are listed as “do not take” pills because there is no evidence that it is effective.

It’s interesting that these three drugs are the top searched pills. Yasmin has certainly come under a lot of attention lately. It’s ad campaigns are interesting - they feature young, attractive girls talking about how the pill decreases PMS symptoms… and what young, attractive girl doesn’t want that? As for Singulair, it seems to me that asthma drugs are a hot commodity these days since a huge percentage of kids today have the condition. And what’s up with glucosamine and chondroitin? All of a sudden everyone has joint problems? I don’t get it. My mom takes glucosamine for her bum knee, but I’m not sure if it does her much good. I noticed that Minute Maid now makes orange juice with glucosamine in it as well. I would venture to say that these three drugs are the top searched drugs on WorstPills.org because, currently, they are some of the most heavily marketed pills out there.