HEALTH

Marion Merrell Dow to Appeal $19.2-Million Judgment: The Kansas City, Mo.-based subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co. said it will fight the verdict and judgment in a product liability lawsuit involving the drug Bendectin, once used to treat nausea. A Philadelphia jury found that a boy born in 1980 with club feet was harmed in the womb because his mother took the drug to treat morning sickness. “We feel that there has been extensive research done as to whether it causes birth defects. The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that it does not, and we will use that as the basis for our appeal,” said Marion Merrell Dow spokesman Tom Heapes. Bendectin was developed by Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., which merged with Marion in 1989.