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.

Merck tried its best to hide the fatal risks of taking Vioxx and aggressively marketed the drug to drown out any questions about safety.

A judge set a June 6 trial date for a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims the arthritis medication Celebrex was to blame for a stroke she suffered last year.

The New York drug giant says worldwide annual Celebrex sales this year should surpass $2 billion, a growth trend in sharp contrast to the huge loss in sales that the prescription for pain relief from arthritis experienced last year.

A Celebrex lawsuit has been set for trial in the Circuit Court of Barbour County on June 6, 2006, for a woman who suffered a stroke at age 53, allegedly caused by taking the pain relieving drug, Celebrex.

A Celebrex lawsuit has been set for trial on June 6, 2006 for a woman who suffered a stroke at age 53, caused by taking the pain relieving drug, Celebrex. The trial will take place in the Circuit Court of Barbour County in Alabama. It will most likely be the first Celebrex case to be tried in the country.

The first product-liability trial over Pfizer Inc.'s painkiller Celebrex has been set for June 6 in an Alabama state court. Rosie Ware, of Barbour County, Ala., is suing the New York drug maker, alleging that Celebrex caused her 2005 stroke.

Merck's got three victories and only one loss under its belt in the ongoing Vioxx litigation battle, but the upcoming cases could get a lot tougher.

A federal jury began considering a plaintiff's claim that Merck & Co. ignored evidence that its blockbuster drug Vioxx caused heart attacks and that the medicine probably caused the death of a 53-year old Florida man.

Merck & Co. rested its defense Thursday in the first federal Vioxx case. Attorneys will give closing arguments Friday morning, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon told jurors.