Doctors and pharmacist in the tri-county area expect a wave of anxiety to crash over their patients once they learn Pfizer Inc. pulled its popular arthritis painkiller Bextra off the market Thursday. A Montgomery lawyer said his lawsuit caseload against he drug manufacturer will grow larger.

The Federal Vioxx cases took a major step forward on Friday when U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon selected a plaintiffs steering committee that includes an Alabama lawyer as co-lead counsel.

The Federal Vioxx cases took a major step forward on Friday when U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon selected a plaintiffs steering committee that includes an Alabama lawyer as co-lead counsel.

In a pretrial order issued today, Judge Fallon of the United States District Court in Louisiana appointed Mr. Birchfield of Beasley Allen as co-lead counsel with regard to pending Vioxx products liability litigation.

Bextra and Celebrex belong to a class of drugs called COX-2 inhibitors that also includes Merck & Co.'s Vioxx, which was voluntarily withdrawn by the company last year after it was shown to increase the risk of stroke and heart attack.

Doctors and pharmacists in the tri-county area expect a wave of anxiety to crash over their patients once they learn Pfizer Inc. pulled its popular arthritis painkiller Bextra off the market.

The first court case to be heard against the makers of the arthritis painkiller Vioxx will open in Clay County and Montgomery trial lawyer Jere Beasley said his firm will have several hundred more after that.

The federal Vioxx cases took a major step forward when U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon selected a plaintiffs steering committee that will help shepherd what is expected to be lengthy and complex litigation.

Since Merck withdrew its blockbuster painkilling drug Vioxx from the market last September, saying it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes, the company has been deluged by lawsuits. One law firm alone, alone, among hundreds across the nation handling Vioxx cases, has received more than 10,000 inquiries from the drug.

MICHELLE NORRIS, host: Investors in the two companies that make Vioxx, Celebrez and Bextra shrugged off today’s FDA announcement, and on Wall Street, stock in Merck and Pfizer barely budged. NPR’s Snigdha Prakash explains why.