Vioxx deal appears on track
More than 44,000 people have signed up for shares of a $4.85-billion settlement over the withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, a sign that the deal is on track, Merck & Co. said Monday.
Of about 47,000 people who registered for the settlement earlier this year, more than 44,000 have submitted all or some of the paperwork necessary for enrollment in the deal, Merck said.
People who enrolled in the settlement by Friday could be eligible to receive an interim payment this year.
Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck has said it would withdraw from the agreement unless at least 85% of people in different groups of claimants joined in the settlement.
Those thresholds would be met if all of the more than 44,000 submissions are verified, the company said.
“We are very pleased with the large number of enrollments we are seeing and are confident that when the enrollments are verified, all 85% thresholds will be met and exceeded within the time frames in the agreement,” said Ted Mayer, a lawyer for Merck.
Andy Birchfield, one of the lead plaintiffs’ lawyers, said Monday’s enrollment figures were “extremely encouraging.”
“These numbers reflect near-universal acceptance of the program,” he said. “It’s overwhelming support.”
In addition to the 44,000, an additional 5,000 claimants whose eligibility is less certain also have submitted paperwork, Merck said.
Lawyers for Merck and thousands of people who blamed Vioxx for their heart attacks or strokes announced the settlement in November 2007 during a court hearing in New Orleans. The deal was expected to end an estimated 45,000 to 50,000 state and federal lawsuits.
Merck voluntarily pulled Vioxx off the market in 2004 after its own study showed the painkiller doubled the risk of heart attack when taken for at least 18 months. Vioxx accounted for $2.5 billion of Merck’s 2003 sales and an estimated 15% of the company’s profit that year.
Claimants must submit their medical records and other required paperwork by March 31 to be eligible for interim payments.
