Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market in September 2004 after its own research showed the popular arthritis and pain treatment drug doubled risk of heart attack and stroke after 18 months' use.

Threatening to declare a mistrial, Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee said Merck lawyer Diane Sullivan had made repeated negative references about attorneys in her opening statement to jurors Wednesday, despite being told beforehand not to do so.

"It's simply playing to the bias of jurors ... a certain perception that there are too many lawsuits and that it's causing society problems," Higbee said.

'Lawyering, Lawyering, Lawyering'

In Wednesday's opening, Sullivan made reference to plaintiff Frederick "Mike" Humeston being "surrounded by lawyers" and later criticized Humeston's attorneys' interpretation of evidence by saying, "That's not science, that's lawyering, lawyering, lawyering."

The start of testimony Thursday was delayed by Higbee's criticism and a dispute over whether Whitehouse Station, NJ-based Merck would be allowed to admit into evidence a key 2005 memo from a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee.

Humeston, a 60-year-old postal worker from Boise, Idaho, alleges Vioxx caused him to suffer a heart attack four years ago. His lawyers told jurors on Wednesday, the first day of testimony, that Merck rushed the product onto the market, ignored evidence of problems with some patients and didn't warn doctors or users that Vioxx could increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Sullivan denied those allegations, telling jurors that Merck's witnesses would prove Vioxx had nothing to do with Humeston's heart attack and the company researched the drug's effects and reported the problems when it found out about them.

2,475 Vioxx Lawsuits Pending in NJ

Merck withdrew the popular arthritis and pain treatment from the market in September 2004 after its own research showed Vioxx doubled risk of heart attack and stroke after 18 months' use.

The trial, one of about 2,475 Vioxx lawsuits pending in New Jersey, is the first since a Texas jury found Merck responsible for the death of a Vioxx user and ordered a $253 million award. That amount will be slashed to about $26 million because of Texas caps on punitive damages.