Lawyers representing drug company Merck asked a judge to throw out a wrongful death lawsuit, which claims pain reliever Vioxx was responsible for the death of a 42-year-old man. Attorney Mike Brock argued the medications Brad Rogers took did not leave the company until after his death in 2001, making a direct correlation between his death and the drug impossible. Lawyers for Cheryl Rogers say they have expert medical testimony showing Vioxx was indeed responsible for her husband's death. They also stated Cheryl and numerous other family members would testify they saw Rogers take Vioxx before he died. Circuit Judge John Rochester said he would give his ruling by the end of the week. Merck pulled Vioxx off the market last September after studies showed the pain reliever doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes among those who used it for more than 18 months. Since then, over 2,400 lawsuits have been filed involving the drug. The Rogers case is the first to be heard in front of a jury. The trail date for the Rogers case has been set for May 23

Pfizer Inc. suspended sales and marketing of its arthritis drug Bextra at the request of U.S. and European drug regulators, who said the risks outweigh the drug's benefits. U.S. regulators also asked that Pfizer include a black box warning -- the strongest possible -- on the package insert for its painkiller Celebrex. "For now, patients should stop taking Bextra and contact their physicians about appropriate treatment options," Pfizer said in a statement Thursday. Pfizer said it planned further discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the possibility of returning Bextra to the market. In December, the FDA asked doctors to limit prescribing Celebrex and Bextra following indications the drugs may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Celebrex, Bextra, and Merck & Co.'s Vioxx, are part of a class of painkillers called COX-2 inhibitors, which are designed to avoid the gastric bleeding associated with older drugs like aspirin. Merck withdrew Vioxx last September after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke compared with a placebo in patients who took it for at least 18 months. The FDA also said in a news release that it would "carefully review" any proposal by Merck & Co. to resume sales of its arthritis drug Vioxx. Bextra had sales in 2004 of $1.3 billion, while sales of Celebrex were $3.3 billion. New prescriptions for Celebrex had plunged in December after the company released data showing the drug may increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. An advisory panel to the FDA in February concluded that all three medicines posed some level of heart risk, but added Vioxx was safe enough to return to the U.S. market. Most members felt all three drugs should have black box warnings