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.

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.

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.

Hundreds of plaintiffs' lawyers who claim that people were injured or killed by the

Hundreds of plaintiffs' lawyers who claim that people were injured or killed by the painkiller Vioxx plan to meet next week to lay the groundwork for a nationwide legal assault against the drug's maker, Merck.