lanier

Today may mark a key day in the wrongful-death lawsuit against drug maker Merck as coroner Maria Areneta is expected to take the stand. According to analysts, plaintiff attorney W. Mark Lanier will attempt to show that a heart attack -- not an arrhythmia -- led to the death of 59-year-old Robert Ernst. Areneta's testimony is believed to bolster that argument. Merck has argued that Vioxx can not be held responsible for the death, as Vioxx has never been shown to cause an arrhythmia …

The New York Times scores week one as a victory for the defense in Ernst v. Merck, but not everybody seems to agree. After a week largely devoted to testimony on the drug giant's marketing practices, plaintiff attorney W. Mark Lanier is now expected to focus on specifics of the link between Vioxx and the heart attack which killed Robert Ernst at the age of 59. The case may boil down to which expert medical testimony the jury believes. Story

In what appears to be the first major setback for the drug maker in its Texas wrongful death trial, Merck found itself on the defensive (literally) as new evidence appeared to suggest the company intentionally misled doctors about the risks involved with Vioxx. Yesterday, plaintiff attorney W. Mark Lanier produced a copy of a letter sent to thousands of physicians around the country in 2001 which states that the company determined that the risk of "cardiovascular events was 0.4 percent …

A Texas jury heard the first evidence in the Ernst v. Merck trial, the wrongful-death suit brought by a Texas woman who believes her husband died as a result of taking Vioxx. Plaintiff attorney W. Mark Lanier grilled Merck's head of epidemiology, Nancy Santello, for much of the day in a style that is often described as being as entertaining as it is effective.

Many of the questions focused on "the dodge ball" memo, a Merck document outlining an internal strategy for dealing with …

Opening arguments were heard yesterday in Ernst v. Merck, the first Vioxx lawsuit to go to trial. A South Texas jury heard plaintiff attorney W. Mark Lanier argue that the drug maker should be held liable for the death of a Texas man who died in his sleep in 2001 after taking the painkiller. In his opening statement, Lanier argued that the death was a consequence of Merck's decision to rush Vioxx to market -- a choice which, according to the lawyer, was ultimately a result of …

Jury selection begins this week in the first Vioxx lawsuit to go to trial. Opening arguments are expected in a federal court in Angleton, Texas, as early as Thursday. Carol Ernst, who lost her husband to a heart arrhythmia, is suing drug giant Merck for failing to warn patients of the risks involved with the painkiller. Ernst is represented by W. Mark Lanier, who The New York Times calls "one of the best trial lawyers in the country." The paper notes that the case will draw major attention.

- see this story from The New York Times