Merck & Co.'s agreement to pay $4.85 billion to resolve lawsuits over its Vioxx painkiller offers certainty of a payday to thousands of plaintiffs who no longer must prove the drug caused their heart attacks or strokes.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck (MRK) will pay $4.85 billion to settle most of the nearly 27,000 pending Vioxx lawsuits nationwide in one of the largest civil agreements ever, the company announced Friday.

Merck & Co. announced Friday that it will pay $4.85 billion to settle as claims by as many as 47,000 groups of plaintiffs over injuries linked to its blockbuster Vioxx painkiller.

The Alabama Legislature's Contract Review Committee on Thursday approved a contract to hire attorneys to represent the state in a massive lawsuit against 73 pharmaceutical companies.

The state Legislature may not have as much money to open up programs they wanted after the Alabama Court threw out nearly all of a record verdict against Exxon Mobile.

More than 45,000 people nationwide filed suit against the company after suffering heart attacks, strokes and sudden cardiac deaths.

It was 6:30 a.m. in New Orleans, and Russ Herman had worked up an appetite. "I met my son for breakfast," Herman said. "We had eggs over light, two biscuits, ham, and several cups of coffee. And we had a lot to talk about."

Merck once vowed to fight the massive Vioxx litigation case-by-case over many years. So why has the drug maker agreed to settle most of the lawsuits.

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.

Negotiating teams met more than 50 times in eight states and spoke hundreds of times over the telephone to hammer out the deal, according to attorneys.