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Judge denies class status in Vioxx cases
2006-11-22
A federal judge on Wednesday denied a motion for class-action status for personal injury and wrongful death cases involving Merck & Co.'s (NYSE:MRK) withdrawn Vioxx painkiller. Judge Eldon Fallon of New Orleans, who is overseeing federal lawsuits involving Vioxx, denied a request by plaintiffs' attorneys for the class-action status. Class-action status would have given the Vioxx plaintiffs more leverage in their fight against Merck, by allowing attorneys to sue on behalf of all individuals alleging harm. "In this case, the difficulties in class management overwhelm any efficiencies that could be secured through classwide adjudication," Fallon wrote in his decision. "Indeed, the predominance of individual issues relating to plaintiffs' claims for compensatory and punitive damages detracts from the superiority of the class action device in resolving these claims." About 24,000 lawsuits have been filed by former users of Vioxx who allege to have been harmed by the drug, which Merck withdrew in 2004 after it was shown to increase the risk of heart attacks. Merck, which said it would make a statement shortly on the decision, has vowed to fight the lawsuits one by one rather than agree to a costly group settlement with the plaintiffs -- such as the one struck by Wyeth (NYSE:WYE) over its withdrawn "fen-phen" diet drugs. Plaintiffs' attorneys were not immediately available for comment. Of 11 Vioxx lawsuits that have gone to jury verdicts, Merck has won seven. However, a New Jersey state court judge ordered one of the victories to be retried after ruling that some new evidence had come to light. Some industry analysts have speculated Merck's eventual liability over Vioxx will exceed $5 billion. To date, the company has taken combined charges of about $1.28 billion to cover litigation expenses but has not yet paid any damages to plaintiffs. More than 7,000 federal Vioxx cases from across the country have been consolidated under Fallon's jurisdiction. Plaintiff attorneys last December asked Fallon to certify a nationwide class action. But Merck objected, saying it would be inappropriate to consider plaintiffs as a single group because each plaintiff's claims involve distinct factual issues. Merck shares were up 3 cents at $44.25 in afternoon NYSE trade, after being in negative territory earlier in the day. The shares are up about 40 percent this year.
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