Last week the WSJ reported attorneys in a pending NJ Vioxx case are expected to make use of internal Merck documents that suggest that a number of Vioxx users beganhaving heart problems as early as a few weeks after beginning to take Vioxx.
This may be a set of newer liability documents - they were provided to a different set of plaintiff attorneys last week in the current Texas Vioxx court case, Ernst v. Merck. This could be used to counter the key Merck's defense - Vioxx users were not at an increased risk for developing a heart attack or a stroke until after using Vioxx for at least 18 months.
The documents relate to the Victor trial (not VIGOR). The research was commenced by researchers with some unspeficied affliation or association by Oxford it is alleged. You can expect a major battle for the data now, as the information out there suggests that the study and its underlying information would not be published for at least two more years.