Merck & Co. to pay $4.85B in drug injury lawsuits
11-9-07
Merck & Co. announced Friday that it will end thousands of drug injury lawsuits over its painkiller Vioxx by paying out $4.85 billion, in what is said to be the biggest drug injury settlement in history, according to the Indianapolis Star.
Vioxx was pulled off of shelves by the manufacturer Sept. 30, 2004 because researchers found the painkiller doubled users’ risk of heart attacks and strokes. The manufacturer is emphasizing that this is not a class action settlement and they are not admitting fault in the drug injury lawsuits, however this is a major concession by the pharmaceutical giant.
47,000 drug injury victims and 265 potential class action cases were facing Merck before this deal was struck. For drug injury victims to qualify for a settlement, their claims must have been filed by Thursday and they must meet several criteria.
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