Grim outlook for Merck winning Vioxx lawsuit

While Merck struggles to explain why its studies on animals about safety of Vioxx was good enough to show that the drug was safe for humans too, its attorneys are clearly having a tough time behaving in a civil manner in the court.

Diane Sullivan, who has behaved so unprofessionally throughout the trial and was almost thrown out of the court at one time by Judge Carol Higbee, misbehaved one more time this week. That prompted another round of shouting match. And this time Sullivan argued even with one her colleagues that also included use of an expletive that the whole court could hear.

Several analysts have debated if Sullivan's behavior is part of a legal strategy designed to discredit the credentials of Judge Carol Higbee so that either Merck can ask for yet another mistrial (it has already asked for mistrials six times) or use the heated exchanges as an issue during the appeal. Most legal experts expect Merck to lose this case.

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