Merck to pay $5bn in rofecoxib claims

doi:10.1136/bmj.39398.517176.DB

BMJ 2007;335:1011 (17 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.39398.517176.DB

News

Merck to pay $5bn in rofecoxib claims

Fred Charatan

Florida

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The US drug company Merck announced last week that it will pay$4.85bn (£2.3bn; ${euro}$ 3.3bn) to settle 26 600 lawsuits, representing47 000 plaintiffs, in addition to 265 possible class actioncases, arising out of the use of rofecoxib (Vioxx).

The agreement is to cover cases filed in federal and state courts,and depends on 85% of all plaintiffs dropping their cases. Themoney will be paid into a settlement fund for claims that qualify.In a statement the company said, "This is not a class actionsettlement. Claims will be evaluated on an individual basis."

Chris Seeger, one of six lawyers for the plaintiffs who helpedto negotiate the settlement, said that it was the largest everin the drug industry.

Rofecoxib was approved by the US Food and Drug Administrationin 1999 for the relief of the symptoms of osteoarthritis, managementof acute pain in adults, and treatment . . . [Full text of this article]

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