Merck faces ongoing claims after Texan ruling on rofecoxib.

Reports that Merck drug company could face thousands of lawsuits concerning Vioxx after losing the Robert Ernst case in Texas. Indication that Merck will appeal the jury award, which will be reduced under the state law to about $26m; Information about the Ernst case and others, including one in New Jersey involving the cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitor rofecoxib; Views of Merck's senior vice president and general counsel, Kenneth Frazier, and Mark Lanier, the winning lawyer in the Ernst case.