Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., M.S.

Drug company Merck loses first wrongful-death verdict over its painkiller Vioxx and is ordered to pay over 285 million in damages.

So far, more than 4,000 cases have been filed againt Merck and analysts have estimated the giant drug company's liability could go as high as $18 billion. Unfortunately, Merck has only set aside $675 million to fight them.

This loss is quite damaging to Merck. It is estimated that the number of cases against them may increase tenfold.

Merck pulled the popular pain reliever from the market last September after a study found it doubled patients' risks of heart attacks and strokes after 18 months.

Merck says there will be no surrender.

Next month, Merck faces a trail in Atlantic City, N.J., brought by Michael Humeston, a former postal worker, who had a heart attack in 2001. Humeston's lawyer, Chris Seeger, said Humeston still has lingering effects from the heart attack. Vioxx has been directly linked to heart attacks.

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