The legal team at Merck doesn't like the "s" word -- as in settlement.

NEW ORLEANS - The first of what could be many federal trials concerning Merck's withdrawn painkiller Vioxx will deal with the fatal heart attack of a 53-year-old Florida man.

The first case among those pending in the federal Vioxx multi-district litigation against drugmaker Merck & Co. will start on November 28, 2005.

Irvin Plunkett v. Merck & Co, Inc., to go to trial among cases pending in the federal Vioxx in New Orleans will begin on November 28, 2005. The announcement was made by Judge Eldon E. Fallon of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who is presiding over the Vioxx Multi-district Litigation (MDL).

More than 4,000 Vioxx lawsuits is underway in Texas, and plaintiffs' lawyers are eagerly watching for clues to the defense strategy and for juror reactions to allegations that the pain medication caused serious heart damage.

A Bullock County woman filed a lawsuit June 3 against Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Qualitest Pharmaceuticals of Alabama for allegedly causing her to develop breast cancer by falsely promoting hormone therapy medication.

A Bullock County woman filed a lawsuit June 3 against Wyeth Pharmaceuticals of New Jersey and Qualitest Pharmaceuticals of Alabama for allegedly causing her to develop breast cancer by falsely promoting hormone therapy medication.

The state government asked the Alabama Supreme Court to uphold a record $3.5 billion judgment against Exxon Mobil, contending the oil company had a "secret scheme to cheat the state out of its bargained-for royalties."

Whether the once-popular painkiller Vioxx can be lethal if taken for just a few weeks will be the crux of the first federal trial concerning the drug’s safety, plaintiff’s lawyers said Wednesday.

A conservative legal group based in Washington, D.C., has filed a judicial ethics complaint against an Alabama judge who accepted large campaign contributions from attorneys pursuing a Vioxx wrongful death lawsuit.