Merck discussed making Vioxx "safer" even while insisting it was safe.

Ok, which is it? Is the drug safe, if so, sell it. If it's not and you need to make it "safer", then pull it.

Today's WSJ online has a good account of Merck's actions and concerns regarding elevated cardiac risk on Vioxx, and the jury no doubt got a better grasp of the fact that concerns about this drug were right there in Merck's corporate conciousness well before the drug was ever pulled.

The question will be did Merck ignore these concerns due to the overwhelming financial success of Vioxx, or was this just research they were doing to improve and modify the drug for future formulations. Either way it's a boost for the plaintiff arguments in this case.