The Associated Press, "Documents: Merck Tried Reducing Vioxx Risk"

          Merck & Co. sought patent protection for a way to reduce cardiovascular problems in Cox-2 inhibitors, the class of drugs that includes Vioxx, as early as 1998 -- a year before the popular pain killer was introduced, newly disclosed documents show.
          The application suggests that Merck was attempting to reformulate the drugs targeted for arthritis sufferers two years earlier than had been previously disclosed. But while the patent was granted in September 1999 by the World Intellectual Property Organization, Merck officials say no product with those properties was ever introduced.
          Instead, Merck began marketing Vioxx in the United States soon after it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in May 1999.
          Merck stopped selling Vioxx last September after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attack and strokes for patients taking it for at least 18 months. That triggered a stampede to courthouses, with more than 4,000 lawsuits already filed against the drug maker.
          Mark Lanier, the Texas lawyer who last week won a $253.4 million verdict against Merck at the first Vioxx suit to be tried, said the 1998 patent application provides further evidence that the company knew about the drug's dangers even before it was introduced -- and marketed it anyway.