Ala. Woman's Third Attempt to Add Non-Diverse Defendants to Vioxx Suit Denied by Judge

MOBILE, Ala. - A woman's third attempt to name Merck employees as defendants in a suit alleging that Vioxx caused her husband to suffer a fatal cerebellar infarction was denied by a magistrate judge, who ruled that the plaintiff had no possibility of recovering damages from the sales representatives. Carolyn Younge v.Merck & Co., Inc., et al., No. 02-0125-M (S.D. Ala., Southern Div.).

In an ordered entered Aug. 19, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bert W. Milling, Jr., agreed with the arguments raised in the drug company's memorandum in opposition to the plaintiff's July 17 motion for leave to file an …