Merck Lawyer Tries to Block Medical Expert

HOUSTON - Merck & Co. asked a federal judge Friday to bar a plaintiff's expert witness in the first federal Vioxx trial, arguing that the cardiologist's theory about how the withdrawn painkiller triggers blood clots amounts to speculation.

The drug giant's lawyers moved to exclude the testimony of Dr. Eric Topol, a prominent cardiologist scheduled to testify for the family of Richard Irvin, a 53-year-old Florida man who died of a heart attack in 2001 after taking Vioxx for about a month.

Topol, who warned of Vioxx's risks in medical journals as early as 2001, was expected to testify that even short-term use of the drug could destabilize arterial plaque and cause a fatal clot — a theory Merck calls unproven.

U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon did not immediately rule. The admissibility fight matters beyond this case: thousands of Vioxx suits are consolidated before Fallon for pretrial work, and his ruling could shape expert testimony in all of them.

The Houston case is the first federal test. A Texas state jury last month ordered Merck to pay $253 million in the nation's first Vioxx verdict — an award that will be cut to about $26 million under state caps — while a second state trial in New Jersey opened this month.

Merck pulled Vioxx from the market in September 2004 after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes with long-term use. The company argues Irvin's death cannot be tied to the drug because he took it briefly and had other risk factors.

Irvin's family says Vioxx was the culprit. The 53-year-old husband and father died suddenly during a trip to Florida; his widow was at the defense table's side this week as lawyers argued over what the jury may hear.

Merck faces more than 4,000 Vioxx lawsuits nationwide. Analysts estimate its potential liability anywhere from $4 billion to $30 billion, though the company has vowed to fight each case rather than settle wholesale.