Vioxx Mass Settlement - The questions we have.
In September 2004, Merck withdrew it painkiller Vioxx from the market when concerns about whether it causes increased heart attacks and strokes. On Friday, Merck and six lawyers who have secretly negotiated a settlement agreement, announced a global settlement. Merck has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle lawsuits by people who claim they or their family members suffered injury or died after taking the drug. The reports of the actual number of people who will be covered by the settlement varies from 27,000 to 50,000.
But what will the individual client receive from this settlement. This was the question asked by Beth Klein quoted in the Wall Street Journal:
Beth Klein, a Denver plaintiffs lawyer who filed four Vioxx suits in New Jersey state court, said that while the settlement provides a welcome opportunity to avoid litigation, she would need a lot more information before she could recommend it. “People are going to want to know the lowest amount they could get, the worst-case scenario, before they agree to that settlement,” she said. That includes figuring out the cut that will go to health insurers and exactly how much her clients could get docked for having risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Right now, she said, “I don’t have a handle on what the payout will be.”
Merck has already spent more than $1.2 billion on defending Vioxx-related claims. Merck decided to not settle cases. And in a series of cases in 2006 and 2007, Merck defeated plaintiffs in California, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois and Louisiana, while losing only a handful of cases.
On November 11, 2007, we were able to obtain copies of the current versions of the Vioxx Settlement Documents.
Description of Vioxx Settlement
Examples of Vioxx Claim Settlement Valuations
November 10, 2007 Version Vioxx Master Settlement Agreement
The official website for the class action settlement has a calculator with which you can compute how much you will receive in the settlement. VIOXX CALCULATOR
