A New Orleans jury in the second Multi-District Litigation (MDL) trial has awarded a $50 million compensatory damage verdict and a $1 million punitive damage verdict against Merck.

Merck was found negligent in the latest Vioxx case, as a jury in New Orleans federal court found that the drugmaker misrepresented the risks of the arthritis painkiller.

Lawyers who lost their Vioxx cases said Tuesday they see new ammunition in their fights to win new trials now that a prominent medical journal has contradicted a key defense used by Merck & Co.

The increased heart risk from Merck & Co.'s withdrawn arthritis drug Vioxx appears to begin earlier and last longer than previously believed, according to experts who reviewed new data presented to U.S. health regulators by the drug maker.

Seniors who took the painkiller Vioxx faced the highest risk of heart attack during the first two weeks on the drug.

For the first time, a jury has found Merck & Co. Inc. liable for a death in connection with the short-term use of the formerly popular painkiller Vioxx.

After millions in expenses and hundreds of hours of court time in six separate trials, neither Merck & Co. nor plaintiff attorneys have captured the upper hand in the litigation blizzard that followed the withdrawal of the pain medication Vioxx.

So far, only a small number of plaintiffs' lawyers have been able to go toe to toe with Merck & Co. in court over its drug Vioxx.

At first, John McDarby's case looked like a loser. Frail, elderly and confined to a wheelchair after two broken hips, he was a 77-year-old diabetic with clogged arteries.

Barbour County could be back in the national tort spotlight this summer when plaintiff lawyer Jere Beasley and his firm take pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to court over its arthritis drug Celebrex.