Merck & Co.’s first trial over the safety of its blockbuster Gardasil cancer vaccine was cut short and rescheduled amid concerns that jurors might be influenced by controversy this month around Robert F.

Merck and a woman suing the drugmaker agreed to halt a trial over alleged injuries from the drugmaker's human papillomavirus vaccine in a case with ties to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.

A lawyer for the plaintiff in the case said Merck agreed to halting the trial because his team feared that extensive publicity around Kennedy’s Senate confirmation hearings may taint the jury.