In his closing argument, Christopher Seeger, lead attorney for the plaintiff in the second Vioxx case to go to trial, accused Merck and Co. of concealing evidence that the drug led to heart attacks in order to protect profits.

Seeger, in closing arguments, rejected claims by the company that Vioxx did not cause the rupture of plaque in a coronary artery of his client, Frederick Humeston, 60, that triggered the heart attack.

Seeger also accused Merck of "speculating" that naproxen prevented heart attacks, rather than testing further to see if Vioxx was causing them.

"When you have the evidence, you have to test it, and you test it before you put a single pill into a human," Seeger says.