Tuesday, April 25, 2006

The rubber match is coming: Merck and Plaintiff Attorneys at a Draw in Vioxx Litigation

Neither side has yet to capture an upper hand, which means a global settlement over Merck's Vioxx is not likely. The large number of lawsuits against the company could cost up to $50 billion, but the company is optimistic that its approach will reduce the final tab. Experts believe Merck will not consider settlement talks until it reaches the two-year anniversary of Vioxx's removal from the market. Theresa Agovino, Seattle Post-Intelligencer 04/24/2006 Read Article: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

4 comments:

GumboFilé said...

Have you read the article I sent on how many people Vioxx may have killed?

David in Grand Coteau

Anthony Fazzio said...

If it was in the long batch, then I must have missed it. Send it again.

GumboFilé said...

I just emailed it again. Some key excerpts,

"in April of 2002 the FDA added new warnings to labels of Vioxx about the increased risk of heart attack. After months of negative publicity, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory COX-2 inhibitor drug Vioxx was finally recalled in September of 2004."

"The National Center for Health Statistics reports that the annual number of deaths in the U.S. for 2004 dropped by nearly 50,000, the biggest decline in 70 years."

"The numbers were led by a decline in heart disease mortality. The age-adjusted mortality rate for heart disease, the leading cause of death, fell 6.4 percent to 217.5 in 2004, the agency said."

Flabbergasting

Anthony Fazzio said...

I just read it. It's shocking. Part of the problem is the lack of public awareness of information like this permits the perpetuation of the myth that all lawsuits are frivolous.