November, 2007 – A global settlement has been reached in the Vioxx litigation after more than 10 months of intense negotiations. Merck & Co. has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to resolve all Vioxx-related claims in which a claimant has suffered a heart attack, sudden cardiac death, or stroke. This will be the largest settlement ever in the history of mass torts pharmaceutical litigation. The litigation involving product liability claims related to the pain reliever Vioxx has been going on for over six years.
Andy Birchfield (Beasley Allen) and Chris Seeger (Seeger Weis) were co-lead counsel for this multi-distict litigation (MDL).
