Associated Press, "Merck suffers 2 setbacks in Vioxx cases"

          Merck & Co. suffered two major legal setbacks over the withdrawn painkiller Vioxx on Thursday when a federal jury here ordered the drug maker to pay $51 million to a heart attack victim, and a state judge in New Jersey overturned a November verdict favoring the company.
          In New Orleans, the jury found that Merck "knowingly misrepresented or failed to disclose" information about Vioxx to retired FBI agent Gerald Barnett's doctors. It said Barnett, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., should get $50 million in compensatory damages. And it added $1 million in punitive damages, saying Merck "acted in wanton, malicious, willful or reckless disregard for the plaintiff's rights."
          In New Jersey, state Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee ruled evidence uncovered since the November verdict showed that Merck withheld information showing heart attacks could come with use of Vioxx for less than 18 months, said attorney Christopher Seeger. Seeger represents Frederick "Mike" Humeston, of Boise, Idaho, who had a heart attack in September 2001. "Merck consistently said throughout the trial that you had to be on Vioxx for 18 months to be at increased risk of a heart attack," Seeger said. "And that was false. They had data that people were having heart attacks within weeks."
          The lawsuits are among more than 16,000 Vioxx-related suits against Merck in state and federal courts.