(07/13/06) ATLANTIC CITY ? Jurors ruled in Atlantic City Thursday that Merck?s painkiller Vioxx was not responsible for causing a 68-year-old woman?s heart attack.

Based on the ruling, the Whitehouse Station-based drugmaker will not have to pay compensatory or punitive damage to the woman at the center of the trial, Elaine Doherty. The latest case in a long line of product liability lawsuits was the first in which jurors considered whether Merck failed to warn patients about the drug?s risks, instead of just doctors.

The jury also ruled that Merck did not violate the state?s consumer fraud law. There are more than 13,000 Vioxx lawsuits pending against Merck. Thursday?s victory marked the fourth for Merck in seven trials so far.