Texan Sharon Rigby

...had alleged her use of Merck's Vioxx painkiller caused her heart attack. Merck was prepared to argue other risk factors played a role, including her smoking and a family history of heart disease. ...

Rigby's trial was set to begin Nov. 8 before Texas state judge Randy Wilson, but it has been canceled, according to Merck. It was to be the first case among hundreds of Vioxx lawsuits in Texas to be tried in coordinated proceedings before Judge Wilson, Merck said. Two previous Vioxx trials in Texas state courts - both of which Merck lost - were held before the Texas Vioxx lawsuits were grouped together under Wilson's oversight.

"This one was handpicked by plaintiffs (attorneys) as a case for trial," said Ted Mayer of the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Merck's outside counsel in the Vioxx litigation. "They made the unilateral decision they didn't want to go forward with it."

(Peter Loftus, Dow Jones Newswires, Oct. 24).