Third Vioxx trial nearing a conclusion

HOUSTON -- Merck & Co. put profits ahead of safety by hiding heart risks of its Vioxx painkiller, a lawyer told a jury in closing arguments of the third trial of a lawsuit filed over the drug.

Merck failed to warn doctors and consumers about studies showing Vioxx posed a greater risk of heart attacks and strokes for users such as Richard ''Dicky" Irvin, said Andy Birchfield, a lawyer representing Irvin's family. Irvin died after taking the drug for 23 days. His family argues Vioxx caused a blood clot that led to his fatal 2001 heart attack. Merck disputed the claim in its arguments.

''They were losing patents on other drugs," Birchfield told jurors in federal court. ''They were in a race to beat" a competing painkiller to market.

A New Jersey jury found last month that the drug didn't cause a mail carrier's heart attack after short usage. Another victory would bolster Merck's arguments that the drug didn't harm short-term users and would reduce pressure on the firm to settle almost 7,000 Vioxx lawsuits filed so far.

New Jersey-based Merck pulled Vioxx off the market in September 2004. It has set aside $675 million to fight Vioxx claims.

Yesterday, the New England Journal of Medicine asked authors of a Merck-sponsored 2000 Vioxx safety review to correct a paper on the study's results. The journal said they failed to include three heart attack cases linked to Vioxx.