The Vioxx verdict handed out by a Texas court last Friday underscores the need for far-reaching tort reform in the US. President George W. Bush has made an overhaul of the system one of the pillars of his second-term legislative agenda. Yet the pace of reform has been sluggish and even the proposed measures would barely touch on cases such as this.

A jury in Texas found Merck liable for the death of Robert Ernst, who died of an irregular heartbeat after taking Merck's painkiller Vioxx for eight months. Mr Ernst's widow was awarded $253m (£141m), including $229m in punitive damages, one of the largest awards this year to a single plaintiff. For Merck, the verdict opens the floodgates. Although a Texas law capping punitive damages will reduce the award, the drug maker still faces at least 4,200 further lawsuits. It potentially faces billions of dollars in liability from claims that it did not disclose the heart risks posed by Vioxx.