Merck & Co. Inc. agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle 27,000 lawsuits over heart attacks and strokes related to the pain medication Vioxx, which was pulled from the market in 2004. The agreement, made Nov. 9 between Merck and law firms representing Vioxx plaintiffs, will go forward only if 85 percent of claimants accept the settlement by March 2008.

The settlement comes after Merck brought 16 Vioxx suits to trial, winning 11, losing five and wracking up more than $1.2 billion in legal fees, according to the Wall Street Journal. Previously Kenneth Frazier, formerly general counsel and now president of Merck's Global Human Health division, had announced the company would fight each Vioxx case individually.

“This agreement is the product of our defense strategy in the United States during the past three years and is consistent with our commitment to defend each claim individually through rigorous scientific scrutiny,” said Bruce N. Kuhlik, senior vice president and general counsel of Merck, in a statement. “Under the agreement, there will be an orderly, documented and objective process to examine individual claims to determine if they qualify for payment. This agreement also makes sense for the Company because since 2004, we have reserved approximately $1.9 billion for defending Vioxx litigation and, absent this agreement, could anticipate that the litigation might stretch on for years.”

Kuhlik went on to say the time was right for an agreement. “Recent court rulings confirmed that the window has closed for filing suits in a number of states, consistent with our view that statutes of limitations have expired in almost every state,” he said.

The settlement was entered Nov. 9 in U.S. District Court in Louisiana, New Jersey Superior Court and Los Angeles Superior Court. The resolution encompasses the majority of Vioxx cases that have been in litigation throughout the country, according to plaintiffs' firm Seeger Weiss.

Merck & Co. Inc. agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle 27,000 lawsuits over heart attacks and strokes related to the pain medication Vioxx, which was pulled from the market in 2004. The agreement, made Nov. 9 between Merck and law firms representing Vioxx plaintiffs, will go forward only if 85 percent of claimants accept the settlement by March 2008.

The settlement comes after Merck brought 16 Vioxx suits to trial, winning 11, losing five and wracking up more than $1.2 billion in legal fees, according to the Wall Street Journal. Previously Kenneth Frazier, formerly general counsel and now president of Merck's Global Human Health division, had announced the company would fight each Vioxx case individually.

“This agreement is the product of our defense strategy in the United States during the past three years and is consistent with our commitment to defend each claim individually through rigorous scientific scrutiny,” said Bruce N. Kuhlik, senior vice president and general counsel of Merck, in a statement. “Under the agreement, there will be an orderly, documented and objective process to examine individual claims to determine if they qualify for payment. This agreement also makes sense for the Company because since 2004, we have reserved approximately $1.9 billion for defending Vioxx litigation and, absent this agreement, could anticipate that the litigation might stretch on for years.”

Kuhlik went on to say the time was right for an agreement. “Recent court rulings confirmed that the window has closed for filing suits in a number of states, consistent with our view that statutes of limitations have expired in almost every state,” he said.

The settlement was entered Nov. 9 in U.S. District Court in Louisiana, New Jersey Superior Court and Los Angeles Superior Court. The resolution encompasses the majority of Vioxx cases that have been in litigation throughout the country, according to plaintiffs' firm Seeger Weiss.