Wednesday July 30, 2008
Merck faces Canadian class-action Vioxx case
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A Canadian court has certified another class-action lawsuit against Merck & Co. over its former painkiller Vioxx, for which the U.S. drug maker is doling out billions of dollars to cover American settlements.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has certified a case involving Vioxx users outside the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Saskatchewan, where judges have already certified class-action personal injury cases.
Vioxx was developed at a Merck research facility in Quebec.
The latest class-action certification encompasses several thousand patients, said plaintiffs attorney Bonnie Tough, who did not have an exact figure.
She said the cases date back to the fall of 2004.
"We're thrilled to have brought it to this place,'' she said, calling the decision a "necessary step'' to get Merck to move toward trial.
Merck said in a statement it plans to appeal the decision. The company contends that each plaintiff's case should be tried separately.
"The company intends to defend these cases vigorously over the coming years, and we are confident that the courts will decide these cases based on sound science,'' said Merck attorney Mary M. Thomson in the statement.
U.S.-based Merck pulled Vioxx off the market four years ago due to increased cardiac risks, and a stream of litigation followed.
The Vioxx case has cost Merck at least $6.8 billion.
The company announced earlier this month that nearly all eligible Vioxx claimants had signed on for a $4.85 billion settlement that will end nearly 50,000 lawsuits, the bulk of the massive litigation.
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