On the eve of third Merck Vioxx trial (the first in a federal court) experts say a key pretrial ruling has worsened the prognosis for Merck, which vows to fight thousands of Vioxx product liability lawsuits one by one.
U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon has ruled that plaintiff lawyers in the trial starting on Tuesday in Houston may present evidence that brief Vioxx use can trigger heart attacks and strokes, rejecting Merck's motion to throw out the case for insufficient evidence.
Legal experts say Fallon's ruling blocked Merck's effort to squelch the roughly one-fourth of federal lawsuits involving short-term Vioxx use.
"It leaves Merck stuck with every dad-gum one of those cases," said Houston lawyer Mark Lanier, who in August won a $253.4 million verdict for the widow of a short-term Vioxx user in the first Vioxx trial.
"Dad-gum"! Insider is going to need a dictionary of quaintness!
Still, it should be a great show.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051126/NEWS03/511260311/1007
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