Plaintiffs Urge Court Not to Revisit Disqualified Judge's Vioxx Rulings

LOS ANGELES - A forum decision issued by a Vioxx judge who was later disqualified for failing to disclose that he once took the drug should not be reconsidered in light of the disqualification and other circumstances that have arisen since the ruling, a brief filed recently by plaintiffs in California says. In Re Vioxx Cases, JCCP No. 4247 (Calif. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty.).

Plaintiffs filed the brief Dec. 22 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, opposing Merck & Co. Inc.'s effort to overturn the judge's two-year-old decision that allowed two out-of-state plaintiffs to proceed with their Vioxx claims …