California Plaintiffs: Merck Waited Too Long to Seek Recusal of Vioxx Judge

LOS ANGELES - Plaintiffs opposing an appeals court decision to remove a California trial court judge from the state's consolidated Vioxx docket argued in a brief filed recently that Merck waited too long to seek the judge's recusal for failing to disclose that he once took the arthritis drug. Merck & Co., Inc. v. S.C.L.A., et al., No. B180613 (Calif. Ct. App., 2nd Dist.).

In a Feb. 14 response to the Second District Court of Appeal's Feb. 2 order recusing Judge Peter D. Lichtman, plaintiffs contend that the Los Angeles Superior Court judge disclosed his past use of Vioxx to …