Ms. Ernst was the final witness for the plaintiffs, who presented 14 days of testimony, including several days from Dr. Nancy Santanello, a Merck scientist.

Company documents suggest Merck scientists were worried about Vioxx's potential heart dangers as early as 1997.

Several of Mr. Lanier's days included testimony from Dr. Nancy Santanello, a Merck scientist whom he called as an "adverse witness."

Although Merck scientists studied men who had a wide range of hair loss, the experiments enrolled only men from the age of 18 to 41.

The e-mail discussion between the Merck scientists reflected an honest scientific debate over the cause of the woman's death, Mr. Mayer said.

After examining the case, Dr. Eliav Barr, a Merck scientist, initially judged that the woman had probably died of a heart attack.

The outside academic scientists who were the authors on the 2005 paper with Merck scientists said they had not seen the new information until recently and would meet this week to evaluate it.

The 10-year study was paid for by Merck, which makes Fosamax, and two Merck scientists are among the co-authors.

Mr. Lanier asked his witness, Dr. Nancy Santanello, a senior Merck scientist.

The company financed the study and their initial work on the paper, and two Merck scientists were also co-authors.