A new Vioxx trial was ordered by the federal judge overseeing the MDL, or multi-district litigation, centered in federal court in New Orleans. The reason: evidence that one of Merck’s expert witnesses, a cardiologist named Barry Rayburn, misrepresented his qualifications, according to the lawyers for a widow who brought suit against Merck.

The case involved Evelyn Plunkett, who sued the drugmaker, claiming Vioxx caused her husband to have a fatal heart attack. A first trial in 2005 ended in a hung jury, and a subsequent trial was found in Merck’s favor. But Plunkett’s lawyers succeeded in convincing US District Court Judge Eldon Fallon that there was “clear and convincing evidence” Rayburn misrepresented himself and, as a result, prevented them from fully cross-examining the doc.

Richard Irvin Jr. began taking Vioxx for back pain on April 15, 2001. One month later, the 53-year-old manager of a wholesale seafood business in St. Augustine, Florida, died of a heart attack.