ONLINE EXTRAS SITE SERVICES  >  Monday, Jul 04, 2005 Business             Posted on Sun, Jul. 03, 2005 Both sides set for first Vioxx trial By Kristen Hays THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HOUSTON - For more than eight months, Vioxx eased the pain and stiffness in Robert Ernst's hands. But eight days after Ernst, a 59-year-old personal trainer, clocked 62 miles on a bike, he died in his sleep from arrhythmia, or an irregular heartbeat. Believing Vioxx caused her husband's death, Carol Ernst will take on pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. in a Texas court this month. After the delay of a similar case in Alabama, it will be the first of 2,400 Vioxx lawsuits filed nationwide to go to trial. Merck removed Vioxx from the market in September after an in-house study showed that taking Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke for patients who took it

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