TRENTON, N.J. (AP)- Coordination of hundred of federal lawsuits over Merck & Co.’s withdrawn painkiller Vioxx is being moved to Houston from New Orleans, at least temporarily, because of the devastation there from Hurricane Katrina.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

When the pharmaceutical giant Merck pulled its blockbuster pain medication Vioxx off the market last fall, it was the largest prescription drug recall in history.

A federal judge in New Orleans has set trial dates for early next year in three of the thousands of lawsuits brought against the manufacturer of the pain medication Vioxx, an attempt to give lawyers for both sides an idea of how juries will react to the complaints about the drug.

A federal judge in New Orleans has set trial dates for early next year in three of the thousands of lawsuits brought against the manufacturer of the pain medication Vioxx

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.

Merck & Co.s loss in the first trial over the painkiller Vioxx may put pressure on the company to settle 4,000 similar lawsuits as well as future claims as it prepares for the next court battle in Atlantic City, N.J.

Merck & Co.'s loss in the first trial over the painkiller Vioxx may put pressure on the company to settle 4,000 similar lawsuits as well as future claims as it prepares for the next court battle in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Merck & Co could face decades of litigation and billions of dollars in damages, putting its stock price under pressure indefinitely after a Texas jury found the company liable in the death of a man taking its painkiller drug Vioxx.