Merck & Co. will start cutting checks for former users of its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx next month after announcing Thursday that it will fund a $4.85 billion settlement expected to resolve roughly 50,000 lawsuits.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 city of Columbus was awarded $3.4 million Tuesday for its share of punitive damages in its lawsuit against a Phenix City plant. The city of Columbus, local boat dealer John Tharpe and south Columbus resident Owen Ditchfield won their suit against Continental Carbon in 2004. They had said their homes, businesses and buildings had been damaged by carbon black dust emitted from the plant.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A state court jury on Tuesday found two major pharmaceutical companies defrauded Alabama in a long-running Medicaid drug pricing scheme and ordered the firms to pay more than $114 million in damages. The jury found that GlaxoSmithKline should pay the state $80.8 million in compensatory damages and that Novartis should pay about $33.7 million in similar damages. But it declined to order any punitive damages.

Investors might find it easier to sue insurance agents and carriers, thanks to new standards from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc., attorneys said.

The National Law Journal recently selected Jere Beasley as one of the top 10 litigators in the nation, including him in its special section, Winners. Here, writer Emily Heller profiles Beasley and shares his secrets of success.

Children First Foundation, Inc. (CFF) hosted The Jere Beasley Evening for Children at the Renaissance Hotel and Spa in Montgomery on last week. The event was designed to help the Foundation raise the funds necessary to advocate for the state's children on the legislative level. CFF felt that by celebrating the philanthropic work done by Mr. Bealsey, one who has given much to the less fortunate of the state, especially its children, could raise needed funds and educate the audience about the importance of action on the legislative level for children and their families, said a Foundation spokesperson.

Soaring gasoline prices are bad enough. But this summer, California's higher temperatures could add an additional 8-cent-a-gallon wallop because pumping warmer fuel gives motorists less energy per fill-up.

Children First Foundation will hold the Jere Beasley Evening for Children today at the Renaissance
Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center.

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.