In the wake of Merck’s disastrous first trial in Texas last month, the embattled pharmaceutical company faces a trial in New Jersey that involves a plaintiff that suffered a heart attack which is precisely the injury to which Vioxx use was linked. In another setback for Merck, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Carol A. Higbee, who is presiding over 2,475 Vioxx cases filed in New Jersey, refused to grant Merck an adjournment of the trial now scheduled for September 12. There is very little that favors the drug giant in this trial and many experts believe that another loss would make it virtually impossible for Merck to scare victims into small settlements.