Writing in the WSJ, law prof Richard Epstein takes the jury to task in the Merck Vioxx civil trial. (The jury awarded the plaintiff’s widow $250 million in “pain and suffering” – Texas law caps that to $25 million.)

Commenting on the effect the verdict will have on other future drugs he said:

Your implicit verdict is to shut down the entire quest for new medical therapies. Your verdict says you think that the American public is really better off with just hot-water bottles and leftover aspirin tablets.

http://www.pointoflaw.com/columns/archives/001482.php