Judge Issues Daubert, Related Rulings Ahead of 1st Federal Trial

NEW ORLEANS - Testimony indicating that adverse cardiac events occur only if Vioxx is ingested for more than 18 months will be presented before jurors empanelled to hear the first federal Vioxx case to go to trial, according to a recent ruling by the judge overseeing the case. Plunkett v. Merck & Co. Inc., No. 05-4046 (E.D. La.).

In a 57-page ruling, which included consideration of a motion to exclude the testimony, Judge Eldon E. Fallon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana said that the disparity of opinion among Merck and plaintiffs who claim they …