UK PRESS: Merck Lawyer: No Plans To Settle Vioxx Suits

08-25-05 03:39 PM EST
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Kenneth Frazier, Merck's & Co. (MRK) general counsel, said in an interview published Thursday that the company intends to fight each lawsuit it faces related to the drug Vioxx. Frazier told the Financial Times in an article published on the newspaper's Web site that the outcome in Angleton, Texas - in which a jury awarded damages of $253 million - was an aberration due to " specious scientific testimony" and said it would be overturned. Merck has lodged an appeal against the verdict; the damages will be reduced to about $26 million under Texas law capping punitive awards.

"Using Angleton as a predictor of all future cases is something we're not prepared to do," he told the newspaper. "We have no intention of entering into a global settlement."

Frazier told the FT that Merck must find ways to "help juries understand complicated science and how it relates to their personal experience." A key issue was to convince jurors that Merck was trustworthy, not greedy, he said. Frazier remained steadfast that Vioxx's "small absolute increase in risk" of a heart attack or stroke only appears after 18 months of continuous use of the drug.