As previously noted by Jim and Ted, Merck lost its second trial over the prescription drug Vioxx yesterday, the other being Texas�s Ernst v. Merck last summer. Notably, in spite of the loss, Merck seems unshaken in its resolve to fight the cases against it one by one. Chuck Harrell, a member of the Merck legal team, said that the split verdict "at least suggests that we need to look at these cases on an individual basis, as we have done in the past." Cold comfort, that. Especially in the face of the grim assessment delivered by WBB Securities healthcare analyst Steve Brozak: "This is death by a thousand cuts."