Severe blow to Merck in Vioxx trial in Atlantic City

"Quite frankly, I felt sick yesterday afternoon. I realized how I have got sucked into this. I feel that I was misled during the testimony," says Judge Carol Higbee who is presiding over the Merck versus Humeston trial in Atlantic City. Her comments can came when the company's legal team brought a scientist, Briggs Morrison, who had essentially looked at data on rats and mice to justify the safety of Vioxx.

Judge Higbee was so mad at Merck's desperate acts that she struck the testimony from the record and directed the jury to ignore it.

Diane Sullivan, the Merck attorney, who has been a troublemaker since the start of the trial, was not about to take this blow lightly though. Her protest was so unprofessional that Judge Higbee had to raise her voice to ask her to shut up. But she wouldn't listen. Finally, she had to use a threat of force to quiet her down, "Miss Sullivan, sit down and be quiet. Sit down or I will have you taken out of the courtroom."

Related article: Merck manipulated data to justify Vioxx safety