Lawyers representing a plaintiff who claims that Merck & Co.’s Vioxx caused his heart attack have applied to Australia’s high court for special leave to appeal against a full court decision, the Herald Sun reported.

 

Last month, the full court of the Federal Court ruled that Graeme Peterson could have suffered his heart attack for reasons other than taking the drug.

 

The Full Court had allowed an appeal by Merck, finding that the plaintiff had been at risk of a heart attack “quite independently of his consumption of Vioxx.”

 

The decision overturned a 2010 Federal Court award of more than $330,000 in compensation to Mr Peterson.