Hundreds of local women are receiving letters, citing an American College of Gynecology study exposing the greater risk of deep vein thrombosis in women using the Ortho Evra birth control patch.

A woman whose husband died of a heart attack after taking the painkiller Vioxx deserves another chance to convince a jury that the drug caused his death because an expert witness in an earlier trial misstated his credentials.

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed Monday in Tuscaloosa County against a drug company that makes and sells Celebrex.

The wrongful death complaint was filed in state court by Michael H. Allen, Administrator of the Estate of Nina Earline Ratliff, who was a resident of Tuscaloosa County. Ms. Ratliff died of complications due to Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), which she developed as a result of taking Celebrex.

Celebrex is in the same category as Vioxx, which was recalled by its manufacturer, Merck & Co., on Sept. 30, 2004, and has since faced an avalanche of injury claims across the country.

Five plaintiffs claim they suffered heart attacks, strokes or other serious injuries and economic damages as a result of taking the pain-reliever Celebrex in a suit filed April 5 in Madison County Circuit Court.

Recently, in what was called a slightly mixed verdict, and with the jurors giving Merck Co. a rebuke saying the company should have known more about the hazards of Vioxx.

Closing arguments in the wrongful death lawsuit Schwaller v. Merck and Co. are expected Monday with a jury verdict probable by the end of the week.

Merck's defense witness Jerome Cohen, M.D., a St. Louis cardiologist, said his ties to pharmaceutical companies did not influence his opinion that Vioxx did not cause Patricia Schwaller's death.

The trial pits Frank Schwaller, whose 52-year-old wife Patricia Schwaller died after using Vioxx, against the drug's maker Merck Pharmaceutical.