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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Judge disqualifies Merck witness

Compiled from wire reports The Spokesman-Review

The judge in the second Vioxx product liability trial delivered a stunning blow to Merck & Co. on Friday when she struck the testimony of its first defense witness from the record.

With the jury outside, Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee said she felt misled and sickened upon rereading the transcript of Thursday’s testimony by a Merck researcher who said studies by the company in the late 1990s showed the pain reliever would not cause heart damage.

Higbee struck the testimony of Merck researcher Dr. Briggs Morrison from the record because she said he was not an expert on the studies he had told the jury about Thursday, nor did Merck give the court sufficient notice about what he would discuss.

“I felt sick last night, and I realized how I got sucked into this. I feel that the court was misled repeatedly with this testimony,” Higbee told attorneys Friday morning.

Morrison was Merck’s opening witness in the three-week trial over whether Vioxx caused the 2001 heart attack of Boise postal worker Frederick “Mike” Humeston. Merck in August lost its first multimillion-dollar product liability case in Texas over the death of another Vioxx user, and 5,000 similar lawsuits are pending.

Consumer debt up 2.7 percent in August

Americans increased borrowing on their credit cards and for purchases such as autos in August, although the gain wasn’t as sizable as it was the previous month. The Federal Reserve said Friday that consumer debt rose at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in August after climbing at a faster 3.6 percent rate in July.

The overall increase in debt of $4.88 billion was in line with private economists’ expectations. Consumer debt had risen by $6.5 billion in July and a huge $14.96 billion in June.

Economists have been expecting consumer borrowing to slow, given that the savings rate has dipped to record lows. The savings rate was minus 0.7 percent in August, the third straight month it has been in negative territory, but a slight improvement from the all-time low for savings of minus 1.1 percent in July.

A negative savings rate means that Americans are spending all they earn in a given month and even dipping into past savings or borrowing to finance spending above their earnings level.

Loans on credit cards and other types of revolving debt rose at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in August after having fallen at a 1.3 percent rate in the July.

Delta resuming full schedule of flights

Delta Air Lines Inc.’s cancellation of certain domestic flights over a two-week period to conserve fuel will end Saturday.

The Atlanta-based airline said Friday it will be resuming its full flight schedule. The nation’s third-largest carrier said it believes fuel supplies in the Southeast have now stabilized.

It announced earlier this month that it decided to cancel select flights to conserve fuel after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.