Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Merck - Vioxx: Big, but not so Easy, retrial

The judge overseeing the first federal Vioxx trial has asked the lawyers involved in the case not to talk to reporters.

Attorneys for Merck and for Evelyn Plunkett, whose husband died of a heart attack after taking Vioxx for a month, met with Judge Fallon for two hours Friday afternoon.

Fallon also imposed an informal gag before the first federal trial, which ended with the verdict hung 8-1 in Merck's favor. It will be retried starting Feb. 6 in New Orleans.

Merck's fourth quarter net income rose 2 percent as the drug company announced it set aside an additional $295 million for legal defense costs related to its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx.

Insiders' view: The first trial was hung because of the NEJM issue breaking when it did. The plaitiffs' lawyers must be bolstered by this.

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