NPR.org, December 6, 2005 – In the first full day of defense testimony at the federal Vioxx trial in Houston, witnesses for drug manufacturer Merck presented the company and its scientists as careful, methodical and, above all, concerned about the safety of the users of its drugs.

U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon on Tuesday ruled that plaintiff attorneys can present as evidence a videotaped deposition from a Cleveland Clinic Cardiologist who has criticized how Merck handled the market withdrawal of the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx in the first federal lawsuit related to the me…

TRENTON-- The opening bell is about to sound in the biggest bout of Chris Seeger’s career.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP)- Coordination of hundred of federal lawsuits over Merck & Co.’s withdrawn painkiller Vioxx is being moved to Houston from New Orleans, at least temporarily, because of the devastation there from Hurricane Katrina.

On Aug. 19 a jury in Angleton, Texas found Merck & Co. liable and ordered the company to pay $253.5 million to the widow of Robert Ernst: a 59-year-old triathlete who died four years ago of an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat. He had been taking Vioxx for about eight months to ease pain in his hands.

A jury in Angleton, Texas found Merck & Co. liable and ordered the company to pay $253.5M to the widow of Robert Ernst, a 59-year-old tri-athlete who died four years ago of an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat.

Plaintiffs attorneys Andy Birchfield and Christopher Seeger, co-lead counsel for the Multi District Litigation in regard to Vioxx cases against Merck, said today the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company is being arrogant in not facing up to its responsibilities to consumers.

Drug-maker-Merck-8-Cols blistering defeat in the nation's first Vioxx trial was only round one in a series of expected court battles in the coming months, many of them involving plaintiffs who have some major advantages.

Drug-maker Merck & Co.'s blistering defeat in the nation's first Vioxx trial was only round one in a series of expected court battles in the coming months.

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A lawyer representing a number of people suing Merck (MRK) described the verdict returned Friday against the company in a Texas case as "a very important day for the victims of Vioxx."