Merck & Co. is paying claims by the families of more than 3,100 users of its Vioxx painkiller who died of heart attacks or strokes blamed on the drug, according to a law firm administering a $4.85 billion settlement fund.

Plaintiffs get close to $5B, but Merck could have done a lot worse.

Attorneys who spent nearly one year negotiating a $4.85 billion Vioxx settlement were left pondering a paradox. Since each side now is certain that the other is prepared for, if not relishing, a litigation Verdun, wouldn't it make better sense to settle after a minimum number of skirmishes?

Merck & Co. will start cutting checks for former users of its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx next month after announcing Thursday that it will fund a $4.85 billion settlement expected to resolve roughly 50,000 lawsuits.

The Vioxx litigation has attracted big names from the mass tort bar. And, though he’s not among plaintiffs counsel, per se, the lineup now includes Mr. Civil Action. That, of course, is Jan Schlichtmann. The Massachusetts plaintiffs lawyer became nationally known in the 1980s, when he represen…

Renewed criticism of Merck & Co's handling of its withdrawn pain drug Vioxx may further tarnish the drugmaker's image but is not about to scuttle its multibillion-dollar deal to settle thousands of personal injury lawsuits brought by former Vioxx users.

More than 44,000 people have signed up for shares of a $4.85 billion settlement over the withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, a sign that the deal is on track to go forward, Merck & Co. announced Monday. Of roughly 47,000 people who registered for the settlement earlier this year, more than 44,000 have submitted all or some of the paperwork necessary for enrollment in the deal, Merck said in a news release.

The pending Merck Vioxx settlement appears to be on track, as more than 95 percent of possible Vioxx claimants have signed on to Merck's $4.85 million settlement offer.

A federal judge overseeing a $4.85 billion settlement with Merck & Co. involving its withdrawn Vioxx painkiller expressed confidence Friday that lawyers have resolved ethical concerns about the agreement.

As deadlines near on the settlement Merck & Co. has proposed for cases related to its Vioxx painkiller, it looks highly likely enough plaintiffs will sign on to seal the deal.

Several plaintiffs' lawyers have asked the federal judge overseeing the $4.85 billion Vioxx settlement to give them the freedom to keep some of their clients outside the settlement.