Merck's position seen as tenuous

As jurors in Texas weigh the company's fate, executives at Merck are considering a sobering reality. Even if Merck does manage to win the lawsuit against it over the role of the painkiller Vioxx in the death of Peter Ernst, the company still faces thousands of other suits making similar charges. Going into Ernst v. Merck, many legal experts had predicted an easy win for Merck. It hasn't quite worked out that way. Many say Houston attorney W. Mark Lanier may have pulled off a major legal triumph.

- see this story from the Boston Globe