Investors get green light to continue Merck lawsuit
pharmafile | April 29, 2010 | News story | | Merck, Vioxx
Investors suing Merck over ‘omissions and misstatements’ relating to its arthritis pain drug Vioxx will be allowed to continue with their lawsuit following a legal victory over the company.
Vioxx was withdrawn from the market in 2004 after clinical trial data confirmed it raised the risk of heart attacks and strokes, prompting a number of court cases to be launched against Merck.
Five and a half years later and the running total in Merck’s Vioxx ‘settlement fund’ last month reached $4.1 billion for patients affected by the drug.
But further cases looked in doubt, potentially blocked by the US legal system’s statute of limitations, which establishes clear legal limits on how long plaintiffs have to bring an action against a defendant.
This week the Supreme Court upheld a Court of Appeal’s decision against Merck, saying the investors were not in fact restricted by this limitation for a federal securities class action.
The ruling will see the case returned to a federal district court in New Jersey to continue proceedings.
“Merck is disappointed in today’s decision, but believes that the allegations in the complaint are unfounded and will continue to defend itself vigorously,” said Bruce Kuhlik, Merck executive vice president and general counsel.
“The company has already made a motion to dismiss the operative complaint on numerous other grounds, and will renew that motion in the district court,” he added.
Further Vioxx lawsuits
Other shareholder cases relating to Vioxx, including individual securities actions and claims brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, are still pending in federal court in New Jersey.
In November of 2007, Merck entered into an agreement to resolve state and federal myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke personal injury claims filed or tolled by November 9, 2007.
Merck said it expects payments for patients affected by Vioxx to be completed later this year.
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