After more than five years of hard-fought and difficult litigation, Merck has agreed to pay $4.85 billion, the largest pharmaceutical settlement in history, to resolve certain Vioxx-related claims involving plaintiffs who suffered a heart attack (including sudden cardiac death) or a stroke.

Merck & Co., Inc. has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to resolve Vioxx related claims in which a claimant has suffered a heart attack, sudden cardiac death, or stroke.

Judge Eldon E. Fallon, presiding judge over the federal Vioxx consolidated proceedings, In re Vioxx Products Liability Litigation MDL (No. 1657), ordered a new trial today in Evelyn Irvin Plunkett v. Merck & Co. Judge Fallon, a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, found that there was clear and convincing evidence that during the second trial of the Irvin case, Merck's expert cardiologist, Dr. Barry Rayburn, misrepresented his qualifications to the Court and to the jury.

Celebrex is in the same category as Vioxx, which was recalled by its manufacturer, Merck & Co., on Sept. 30, 2004, and has since faced an avalanche of injury claims across the country.

Five plaintiffs claim they suffered heart attacks, strokes or other serious injuries and economic damages as a result of taking the pain-reliever Celebrex in a suit filed April 5 in Madison County Circuit Court.

Fresh off a federal court defeat in December, Birchfield is laying out for Madison County jurors pretty much the same argument he has in the past, that Vioxx caused heart attacks and that "Merck worked hard to keep the truth quiet."

Plaintiff's attorney John Driscoll of Brown & Crouppen will try to convince a jury that Vioxx caused or significantly contributed to the death of Frank Schwaller's wife in Madison County's first trial against Merck over the recalled arthritis pain reliever.

Nine jury trials into a docket of more than 14,000 cases, the early results in litigation surrounding Merck & Co., Inc.'s pain medication Vioxx are a mixed bag. The defense has chalked up four wins; a fifth defense victory, in New Jersey, was tossed out by a judge on August 17. Plaintiffs have w…

Nine jury trials into a docket of more than 14,000 cases, the early results in litigation surrounding Merck & Co., Inc. pain medication Vioxx are a mixed bag.

The retired FBI agent who suffered a heart attack after taking the painkiller Vioxx is entitled to $50 million in compensatory and $1 million in punitive damages from drug manufacturer Merck & Co.