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.

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.

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.

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."

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

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 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.

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 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.