Vioxx MDL Defendants Submit Plan for Expedited Trial Schedule

NEW ORLEANS - In an effort to ensure that the Vioxx MDL plays a 'meaningful role' in resolving the nationwide Vioxx litigation, defendant Merck & Co. has asked the judge overseeing the federal docket to create an expedited schedule that would set the first federal trial in November. In re: VIOXX Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1657 (E.D. La.).

Merck filed a trial proposal May 20, requesting that Judge Eldon E. Fallon recognize the need to keep pace with state court Vioxx cases that are moving toward trial and could undermine the MDL court's ability to play an appropriate …