A breakdown of Vioxx-related suits filed to date

Monday, September 5, 2005
The Associated Press

The number of lawsuits filed against drug giant Merck & Co. since it withdrew its blockbuster painkiller Vioxx from the market last September is mounting.

More than 5,000 product liability lawsuits, nearly all of them personal injury lawsuits, have been filed against Merck. They include:

--1,811 federal lawsuits consolidated for pretrial coordination to streamline steps common to the cases, such as document gathering and witness depositions.

--More than 290 federal lawsuits pending but not yet consolidated with the others in what's called multidistrict litigation.

--More than 250 cases pending in California state courts.

--About 2,475 cases pending and coordinated under one judge in Atlantic County, New Jersey.

--More than 200 cases pending in state courts elsewhere.

The above categories include 148 potential class-action cases, which could eventually include many plaintiffs if judges certify them as class actions. A handful of those cases involve union health plans, insurers and other third-party payers seeking reimbursement of money they paid for Vioxx for their prescription plan members. One such class action suit filed by a New Jersey union has been certified.

The New Jersey total is as of Sept. 1, while the other numbers are as of Aug. 15.

The lawsuits allege Vioxx caused heart attacks, strokes, gastrointestinal bleeding, dangerous blood clots or kidney damage, and most seek financial compensation. Some potential class-action suits seek future medical monitoring for Vioxx users who have not suffered health problems yet.

Merck also faces lawsuits in federal court from stockholders seeking reimbursement for billions of dollars of losses they suffered when Merck shares plunged after the company pulled Vioxx from the market.

Sources: Merck & Co., Atlantic County Superior Court