Wanting to move on from the legacy of its deadly painkiller, the maker of Vioxx, Merck & Co. this morning signed an agreement to pay $4.85 billion to settle the outstanding individual product liability claims against the drug.

Montgomery law firm Beasley, Allen is on the winning side of a $4.85 billion settlement for users of the painkiller Vioxx who claim they were harmed by the drug.

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 maker of the painkiller Vioxx has agreed to pay more than $4.8 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits in one of the largest civil cases ever.

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.

Plaintiffs' lawyers this morning announced that Merck & Co. has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle the majority of claims over injuries linked to its Vioxx painkiller.

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.

The Alabama Supreme Court, by tossing nearly 99 percent of a $3.6 billion verdict against ExxonMobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, has refused to play Santa to state taxpayers.

Alabama has developed a reputation for the nation's most expensive Supreme Court races during a 12 year battle that has changed the court from all Democratic to overwhelmingly Republican.

Overturning Exxon verdict appears political, Gov. Bob Riley's legal adviser seemed surprised that the Alabama Supreme Court struck down the record $3.6 billion verdict for the state against the ExxonMobil Corp. in a dispute over natural gas pumped from Mobile Bay.