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Mistrial Sought in Vioxx Case

Chris Nichols

Lawyers for the plaintiff in the first Vioxx lawsuit to be heard in federal court are seeking a mistrial after a medical journal said certain data were missing from a study of the painkiller published five years ago.

The Wall Street Journal reported that attorneys for the widow of Richard Irvin, a Florida man who took Vioxx for less than a month and died in 2001, filed their motion Friday. Irvin's widow is suing Merck (MRK), the maker of Vioxx, alleging the drug led to her husband's death.

The development follows an editorial posted on the Web site of The New England Journal of Medicine Thursday, in which the publication asked the authors of a Merck-sponsored study to correct an article on Vioxx that ran in November 2000. The editorial questioned why three heart attacks among Vioxx patients weren't included in the trial results that were submitted for the article.

Shares of Merck closed down 55 cents, or 1.9%, to $29.13.

The Journal of Medicine said Thursday that "inaccuracies and deletions" it now knows about "call into question the integrity of the data" on Vioxx's role in heart-related problems. Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., responded that it "promptly and appropriately disclosed the results" of the study, known as VIGOR.

The company also said it "correctly communicated about the benefits and possible risks" of Vioxx and "extensively disclosed the VIGOR data to the scientific and medical communities, and in the press."

Deliberations in the trial started Thursday afternoon. Irvin was 53 when he died. Merck lawyers argued that the drugmaker had given appropriate warnings and information about Vioxx. Merck attorney Phil Beck told jurors that Irvin died from ruptured plaque in an artery, which led to a blood clot, not because he took Vioxx, the Associated Press reported.

Merck pulled Vioxx from the market on Sept. 30, 2004, after another company-sponsored study found that patients on the drug for more than 18 months had a higher risk of heart-related problems than those who received a placebo.

More than 6,000 lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. alleging that Vioxx caused an injury or death. Merck lost the first Vioxx trial, a case in a Texas state court in August, but won a November decision in a New Jersey state court. Merck plans to appeal the Texas verdict.

The federal trial was originally set to take place in New Orleans, but after Hurricane Katrina led to flooding and damage in the city, it was moved to Houston.