The fourth Vioxx lawsuit against Merck & Co. will be held in a rural Texas court and a retrial of the federal case that ended in a hung jury will be held in February in New Orleans.

During the past five months, Merck researcher Alise Reicin has stood toe-to-toe with some of the nation's best trial lawyers.

The Alabama Dental Association is suing Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, claiming the insurance company defrauded roughly 1,600 dentists out of more than $100 million in reimbursements.

Andy Birchfield, got a jump start on the Vioxx litigation, he began filing cases in 2001, three years before Merck & Co., Inc., pulled its prescription painkiller from the shelf.

Merck & Co.'s chief executive for 10 years, Gilmartin withdrew the painkiller Vioxx in the biggest prescription-drug recall ever, prompting at least 475 lawsuits against the No. 2 U.S. drugmaker by Vioxx users.

Pfizer Inc.s decision to stand behind Celebrex rather than withdraw its painkiller, as rival Merck & Co. did with Vioxx, puts the company on a risky legal path.

Pfizer is betting that the medical community and consumers will ultimately decide theres still a valid need for a Cox-2 inhibitor, the class of painkillers that includes Celebrex.

When the pharmaceutical company Merck pulled painkiller Vioxx off the market after a study linked it to heart attacks and strokes, lawsuits against the drug maker were already under way across the country.

A lawsuit has been filed in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, AL against Ford Motor Company and Continental-Tire of North America.

Merck & co.’s internal investigation of the withdrawal of its Vioxx painkiller will take months to complete and won’t hide any facts, said John Martin Jr., a retired federal judge hired to conduct the probe.