Merck & Co. Chief Executive Officer Raymond Gilmartin said Monday his first indication that the painkiller Vioxx carried a heart risk came on Sept. 23, and the company withdrew the medicine a week later.

Attorney Andy Birchfield Jr. is directing litigation against Merck &Co. by people who alleged that the painkiller caused heart attacks or strokes.

Merck & Co. Chief Executive Officer Raymond Gilmartin said his first indication

Attorney Andy Birchfield Jr. is directing litigation against Merck & Co. by people who alleged that the painkiller caused heart attacks or strokes.

Merck & Co. Chief Executive Officer Raymond Gilmartin said his first indication that the painkiller Vioxx carried a heart risk came on Sept. 23, 2004 and the company withdrew the medicine a week later.

Attorneys involved in Vioxx litigation predict that all federal cases will be consolidated and transferred to a single venue soon after the Judicial Panel on Multi-district Litigation meet.

Representatives of both the drugmaker Merck and the FDA will be on Capitol Hill next week to answer safety questions about Merck's drug Vioxx.

On the September morning Merck pulled its blockbuster pain medicine Vioxx from the market, a group of lawyers was busy taking deposition from the drug maker’s former chief medical officer.

Lawyers meeting on Tuesday to discuss Vioxx litigation say pending lawsuits will show that Merck & Co, Inc. (MRK.N) was aware of the arthritis drug’s risks before it was taken off the market.

Already wounded by the withdrawal of its Vioxx pain reliever from the market, Merck must now contend with hundreds of lawsuits over the drug’s side effects-lawsuits that threaten to further damage the company’s finances and reputation.