Fourth Vioxx trial begins

The latest Vioxx trial opened in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Monday. Houston lawyer W. Mark Lanier hopes to repeat last year's win in a Texas courtroom. Thomas Cona of Cherry Hill blames his heart attack on the painkiller, as does fellow plaintiff John McDarby. Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market in 2004 after a study showed the drug doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes if taken for an eighteen month. The drugmaker is expected to argue that neither Cona or McDarby took the drug long enough to have been at risk. Legal analysts doubt that Lanier's folksy style will play well on Merck's home turf.

- see this article from The Washington Post