Jurors Precluded from Hearing Evidence of Employee Vioxx Ingestion, Stock Trades

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Evidence pertaining to whether Merck employees and their families sold company stock or once took the now-withdrawn arthritis drug Vioxx would be more prejudicial than probative if it were heard by a jury, a state court judge in New Jersey has ruled. Humeston v. Merck & Co. Inc., No. ATL-L-2272-03-MT (N.J. Super. Ct., Atlantic Cty.).

Judge Carol E. Higbee of the Atlantic County Superior Court made the rulings in the wake of numerous motions in limine that were presented to the court prior to opening arguments in the Vioxx trial now underway in New Jersey.

According …