Whether the maker of Vioxx withheld information about the drug's risks was the point of opening statements Wednesday in a crowded Madison County courtroom.

Vioxx lawyers shape case for jurors in opening arguments. Opening arguments are underway in the Metro East's first Vioxx trial.

Merck & Co. put profits ahead of consumer safety by hustling a blockbuster arthritis medicine to market, then routinely denied the drug's potentially lethal health risk.

The upcoming wrongful death lawsuit, Schwaller vs. Merck & Co, will be the first Vioxx case to be tried in the Illinois Circuit Court in Madison County and the first anywhere in the Midwest. It is possible that this case will set the tone for how Merck will handle cases in the future.

Plaintiff's attorney John Driscoll of Brown & Crouppen will try to convince a jury that Vioxx caused or significantly contributed to the death of Frank Schwaller's wife in Madison County's first trial against Merck over the recalled arthritis pain reliever.

In the second-largest Vioxx verdict to date, a federal jury in New Orleans awarded $51 million to a 62-year-old retired FBI agent who suffered a heart attack after taking Vioxx for two-and-a-half years.

Merck & Co. won its second Vioxx trial in less than a week when an Alabama jury rejected the claims of a man who blamed the once-popular pain medication for his heart attack in 2001.

Nine jury trials into a docket of more than 14,000 cases, the early results in litigation surrounding Merck & Co., Inc. pain medication Vioxx are a mixed bag.

A surge of lawsuits has swamped courthouses just ahead of the two-year anniversary of drugmaker Merck & Co. pulling its blockbuster painkiller Vioxx from the market.

The first Celebrex trial, originally set for June 6, 2006, has been delayed indefinitely, reportedly to give attorneys more time to gather information.