The final bill for Merck's Vioxx is just beginning to be toted up before it pulled Vioxx off the market because of the cardiac risks the painkiller could pose to long-term users.

Evelyn Irvin Plunkett said she remembers the day her husband starting taking Vioxx for back pain. It was April 15, 2001.

Following Merck & Co.'s withdrawal of the blockbuster painkiller Vioxx, patients, shareholders and even the company began scrambling to figure out their next moves.

The flood of phone calls to plaintiffs' lawyers began soon after pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. announced that it would withdraw its painkiller Vioxx from the market because of safety concerns.

Merck could face legal liabilities of up to $10B following its worldwide withdrawal of the blockbuster pain drug Vioxx, according to some analysts' estimates.

Merck & Company's decision to stop selling the painkiller Vioxx, one of its most profitable drugs, could hardly have come at a worse time for the company.

The plaintiffs bar was heartened when pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. stopped sales of Vioxx, a popular arthritis drug that relieves aches and pains, but increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

A new FDA study found patients taking a high dose of Vioxx were three times more likely to have a heart attack. As a result, Merck & Co. is pulling the arthritis drug from the market.

John Perdue says he was merely expressing faith, leaving a message about Jesus on another businessman’s voice mail but his company apparently felt he went too far and fired him for doing it.

The Young Lawyers Section of the Alabama State Bar Association recently announced its officers for 2004-2005. They are as follows: Brannon J. Buck of Maynard, Cooper & Gale PC in Birmingham, president; Christy D. Crow of Jinks, Daniel & Crow LLC in Union Springs, president-elect; Roman Shaul…