Merck & Co. is paying claims by the families of more than 3,100 users of its Vioxx painkiller who died of heart attacks or strokes blamed on the drug, according to a law firm administering a $4.85 billion settlement fund.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Former Vioxx users getting part of a $4.85 billion settlement ending most personal injury suits over the withdrawn painkiller will get a bigger piece of the pie, thanks to an unusual settlement Thursday with their health insurers.
Plaintiffs get close to $5B, but Merck could have done a lot worse.
Attorneys who spent nearly one year negotiating a $4.85 billion Vioxx settlement were left pondering a paradox. Since each side now is certain that the other is prepared for, if not relishing, a litigation Verdun, wouldn't it make better sense to settle after a minimum number of skirmishes?
Merck & Co., manufacturer of Vioxx, announced it will make the first payment of $500 million on Aug. 6 into a fund to settle claims by plaintiffs injured by the drug. The settlement fund will eventually total $4.85 billion. By providing the funding for settlements, Merck waives its right to walk away from the settlement deal, originally established in May. More than 60,000 people currently have registered a claim that Vioxx caused heart attack or stroke. Payments to claimants will begin before the end of August.
Pharmaceutical company Merck says it will start cutting checks next month for former users of its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx. Merck announced plans today to fund the $4.8 billion settlement involving about 50,000 lawsuits.
Merck & Co. will start cutting checks for former users of its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx next month after announcing Thursday that it will fund a $4.85 billion settlement expected to resolve roughly 50,000 lawsuits alleging harm from Vioxx.
Merck & Co. will start cutting checks for former users of its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx next month after announcing Thursday that it will fund a $4.85 billion settlement expected to resolve roughly 50,000 lawsuits.
More than 59,000 people have registered claims against drugmaker Merck & Co. for injury from painkiller Vioxx, and administrators have enough records to review about 9,100 of those claims.
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.
