ANGLETON, Texas -- A jury has found pharmaceutical giant Merck liable for the death of a Texas man who took the painkiller Vioxx.

Robert Ernst died in his sleep in 2001 at age 59 after taking Vioxx for eight months. Jurors awarded Ernst's widow, Carol, $253.4 million in damages, which is a combination of his lost pay as a Wal-Mart produce manager, mental anguish, loss of companionship and punitive damages.

Jurors rejected Merck's argument that Ernst died of clogged arteries rather than a Vioxx-induced heart attack that led to his fatal arrhythmia. Merck has said there's no link between Vioxx and arrhythmia.

Merck said it plans to appeal, and the company has vowed to fight the more than 4,200 state and federal Vioxx-related lawsuits pending across the country. The case has drawn national attention from pharmaceutical companies, lawyers, consumers and stock analysts as a test of how Merck will fare in other cases.

Experts say it had appeared to be a weak case. An analyst with Zacks Investment Research said he believes a Merck loss means the number of cases against the company increases tenfold.

When the decision was announced, Carol Ernst wept as her attorneys leaped and shouted, "Amen!"

"(Robert) would be so proud of me," Carol Ernst said later. "It's been difficult. It's hard to put yourself in this position."

Ernst's attorney said the verdict sends a loud message to Merck, reported KPRC-TV in Houston.

"It says, 'Merck, you need to address this. You need to be responsible. You need to be accountable. You can't just use your money and your resources to run,'" lawyer Mark Lanier said.

The decision came during the second day of deliberations in the case. The panel of seven men and five women deliberated for seven hours Thursday.

About an hour after they began those deliberations, the panel requested copies of several documents admitted into evidence during the trial. Lawyers delivered those and hundreds more that had been presented since the trial began with opening statements July 14.

Before deliberations began, the judge warned jurors not to allow "bias, prejudice or sympathy" to play a part in their discussions. A civil verdict can be reached if 10 of the 12 jurors agree.

Next up for Merck is a trial in Atlantic City, N.J. -- the company's home state. It involves a postal worker who had a heart attack, and Vioxx has been directly linked to heart attacks.

In November, the first of 1,800 federal cases involving Vioxx will be heard in New Orleans.