Witness Recalls Stepfather's Death

July 27, 2005

ANGLETON, Texas -- Shawna Sherrill, the stepdaughter of Robert Ernst, described her mother's pain before jurors in the first Vioxx-related civil trial. Robert Ernst was the 59 year-old Texas man who allegedly died because of his use of the painkiller, Vioxx, in 2001. Sherrill recalled, "The night Bob died, we lost my mom, too. She's a shell of a person now. She's used to bucking it up and being hard and being our backbone. But we're older now and we can kind of see through that. It's just hard. Every day is hard."

Ernst was a Wal-Mart manager who ran marathons and worked as a personal trainer.  He took Vioxx for eight months to ease pain in his hands. When Carol Ernst found Ernst unconscious in bed, she called Sherrill and her husband, both nurses. They raced to the Ernsts' home where paramedics vigorously performed CPR. Sherrill said her mother overheard her telling Robert Ernst they were trying to help him, which gave Carol Ernst false hope that her husband might survive. Carol Ernst, a mother of four, had been divorced for more than 15 years when she met Robert Ernst. The couple dated for approximately three years before getting married. Sherrill described him as "a soulmate" who sparked a youthful exuberance her mother hadn't exhibited while raising the family alone.

The plaintiff's attorney, Mark Lanier, is sceduled to call the deceased man's widow, Carol Ernst, to the stand later in the week.  Carol Ernst is the plaintiff's final witness.  Merck, the manufacturer of Vioxx, would then open its defense with testimony from Dr. Alan Nies, a retired Merck executive who ran the effort to bring Vioxx to the market.