Merck Says 18-Month APPROVe Testimony Should be Heard

NEW ORLEANS - Merck & Co. has responded to a motion to exclude testimony that Vioxx cannot cause adverse cardiac events in patients who took the drug for less than 18 months, arguing the evidence is needed to contradict allegations that short-term Vioxx use caused a Florida man's Vioxx-related heart attack. Plunkett v. Merck & Co. Inc., No. 05-4046 (E.D. La.).

Merck's response, filed Nov. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, includes numerous reasons for why the court should deny a plaintiff's motion to exclude the threshold evidence, which was developed from post hoc …