Pharmaceutical company Merck is currently fighting lawsuits brought by patients of their drug Vioxx, who claim the drug caused them to suffer severe health complications such as heart attacks and strokes. However, new allegations suggest that Merck may have known about the propensity of the drug to cause these health complications and kept the [...]

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By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ More than 44,000 people have signed up for shares of a $4.85 billion settlement over the withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, a sign that the deal is on track to go forward, Merck & Co. announced Monday.
Of roughly 47,000 people who registered for the settlement earlier this year, [...]

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By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Merck & Co. has agreed to pay $671 million to settle claims that it overcharged Medicaid programs for two big-selling drugs, Vioxx and Zocor, and to resolve allegations of improper marketing to doctors, U.S. prosecutors and company officials announced Thursday.
In a case in Philadelphia, Merck agreed to [...]

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By LINDA A. JOHNSON AP Business Writer
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Merck & Co. said Friday it will pay $4.85 billion to end thousands of lawsuits over its painkiller Vioxx in what is believed to be the largest drug settlement ever.
Merck faced personal injury lawsuits representing 47,000 plaintiffs, and about 265 potential class action cases, filed [...]

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By SAMUEL MAULL Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) _ The state and city sued Merck & Co. Inc. on Monday, accusing the drugmaker of defrauding Medicaid and other government insurance programs by hiding the risks of heart problems associated with its pain medication Vioxx.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, said the state’s Medicaid [...]

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By LINDA A. JOHNSON AP Business Writer
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ New Jersey’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a class-action lawsuit against Merck & Co. over its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx.
The ruling is a huge legal victory for the drugmaker, which faces nearly 27,000 individual lawsuits from people claiming Vioxx, once a widely used arthritis treatment, caused [...]

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Summary: Merck Wins Latest Vioxx Trial

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Issues in Tort LawBy Attorney David I. Fuchs
As trials continue against Merck, the maker of Vioxx, attorney David I. Fuchs predicts a change in verdicts from state to state, based on the political views of the jury in each jurisdiction.

In South Florida, where Fuchs practices law, juries tend to be much more conservative in their [...]

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The U.S. Food & Drug Administration said yesterday that warnings about heart or stomach risks must be placed on all pain relievers in a class called “non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.” It excluded aspirin and acetaminophen, which is sold under the brand name Tylenol.

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The Food and Drug Administration has asked Pfizer to voluntarily remove Bextra (valdecoxib) from the market. FDA is also asking manufacturers of all marketed prescription Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), including Celebrex (celecoxib), to revise their products to include a boxed warning, highlighting the potential for increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) events and the well-described, [...]

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