Vioxx claimants rush to join 4.85B settlement as deadline nears
TRENTON, N.J. - The volume of claims by Vioxx patients hoping to get a piece of a $4.85 billion settlement makes it appear likely that the deal will go forward, according to lawyers and drug maker Merck %26amp; Co.
Thousands of people have sued Merck, claiming they were injured before the painkiller was pulled from shelves. They and their lawyers have until Tuesday to register a claim if they are considering participating in the settlement.
“We’re inundated,” said Russ Herman, a New Orleans lawyer who is chairman of the plaintiffs attorneys committee that hammered out the deal with Merck. His firm has been getting hundreds of calls and e-mails a day from people signing up or asking questions.
Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck says it will withdraw from one of the largest settlements in the pharmaceutical industry if 85 percent of certain claimants , those who took Vioxx for more than 12 months, suffered a heart attack or stroke or died , don’t sign on. Claimants with lesser injuries are not eligible.
Ted Mayer, outside counsel for Merck on Vioxx, said, “Based on everything we’re hearing, we continue to expect to meet or exceed the enrollment thresholds.”
Merck does not expect to know for certain if the thresholds have been met until after March 1 because each claim needs to be verified. After they are verified, claimants must decide for certain if they want to participate.
Verified claimants must commit by enrolling in the settlement program by March 1, or by Feb. 29 if they are seeking an interim payment before final payments begin in summer 2009; interim payments could start in August 2008.
The 85 percent thresholds are based on the total number of verified claimants.
Once a claimant commits, their lawsuit against the drug maker will be dropped. Merck did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement.
Merck pulled Vioxx from the market on Sept. 30, 2004 amid evidence the blockbuster drug doubled risk of heart attack and stroke.
Plaintiffs who by Nov. 8, 2007, had filed a lawsuit or a tolling agreement to suspend the statue of limitations , a total of about 60,000 cases , have until midnight Tuesday to get their registration forms to the claims administrator, by mail, courier or electronically.
DisplayAds (’Middle’);As of Monday, about half of those cases have been submitted, with many more expected right before the deadline, Merck spokesman Kent Jarrell said. “We think that’s a good sign, we think things are moving along properly,” he said.
Registrants must submit evidence of a valid claim, such as medical records and receipts indicating they had taken at least a month’s worth of Vioxx pills.
Individual payouts will be determined by a point system that factors in the number of plaintiffs participating in the settlement and the severity of injuries, length of time Vioxx was used, and cardiovascular risk factors of each plaintiff.
Merck officials have estimated the settlement would end 45,000 to 50,000 individual cases.
Top plaintiff attorneys representing thousands of Vioxx plaintiffs have said they expect virtually all their clients to participate. Those include Herman, fellow negotiating committee member Chris Seeger of New York, and Houston lawyer Mark Lanier, who won a $253 million verdict later reduced to $26 million in the first Vioxx trial.
Seeger has said he expects the average payout to be more than $200,000. Plaintiffs will only have their lawyers’ estimates as to what they’ll get before they commit. Attorneys fees and costs, as well as medical costs already paid by insurers, Medicare or Medicaid, will be deducted from the payouts.
Merck has won 10 of the 15 product liability trials that reached a verdict. Some of those cases will be excluded from the settlement, but appeals in others continue.
The cost of those victories, though, has been steep: Through Sept. 30, Merck had reserved a total of $1.92 billion for legal expenses and spent a total of $1.2 billion.
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On the Net:
Merck: http://www.merck.com/
Plaintiff attorneys’ site: http://www.officialvioxxsettlement.com/
