"It's the best possible win for the case, but it is not the end of the battle. The next test case will really be long-term users. Investor sentiment certainly swings probably more than it should on each individual case."
So says Scott Henry, an analyst at Oppenheimer.
Merck recalled Vioxx in September 2004, after it was shown to double heart attack and stroke risks for those who took it at least 18 months.
The first trial involving long-term Vioxx use comes up in New Jersey, in a trial expected to begin Feb. 27 involving two Vioxx users who took the drug for 25 months and 49 months, respectively.
Hotshot Texas lawyer Mark Lanier (pic) will represent the two plaintiff's whose complaints are being heard in one case. He won the first Vioxx case, held in the lone star state.
In that first case, a Texas jury found Merck negligent in its marketing and design of Vioxx and ordered the company to pay $253 million for the death of a marathon runner who took Vioxx for eight months.
Insiders' view: this is the "main event" : Lanier vs Merck in cases where Vioxx was taken for longer periods of time.
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