The New York Times, "Earlier Merck Study Indicated Risks of Vioxx"

          Nearly a year before Merck received results from the clinical trial that prompted the company to withdraw its painkiller Vioxx from the market, the company received preliminary results from a separate study of patient records that also apparently indicated that the drug posed cardiovascular risks.
          Merck has not publicly disclosed that separate study's results or referred to it in any of its statements about Vioxx's safety record since announcing in late September that it would stop selling the drug. But a company spokeswoman, in response to a reporter's questions yesterday, confirmed the study's existence and said that Merck, which paid for the research, received its preliminary results last November - and was given a final report 10 days before the company announced it would stop selling Vioxx.
          When it withdrew the drug from the market, Merck cited a long-term trial showing that some patients, after taking Vioxx for 18 months, developed serious cardiovascular problems. But Merck's critics continue to say that the company should have heeded signals years earlier that Vioxx might pose dangers. Today in Washington, the company's chief executive, Raymond V. Gilmartin, is expected to be questioned on the matter in a hearing by the Senate Finance Committee, which will also be examining the Food and Drug Administration's handling of Vioxx and other drug safety issues.