Over 44,000 sign up for Vioxx settlement
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - March 3, 2008 Of roughly 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 in a
news release.
People who enrolled in the settlement by this past Friday could
be eligible to receive an interim payment later this year.
Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck has said it will withdraw
from the agreement unless at least 85 percent of people in
different groups of claimants join in the settlement.
Those thresholds would be met - and exceed 93 percent of
eligible claims in each of four key categories - 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 percent thresholds will be met and exceeded within
the timeframes in the agreement," Ted Mayer, a lawyer for Merck,
said in a statement.
Andy Birchfield, one of the lead plaintiffs' lawyers, said
Monday's enrollment figures are "extremely encouraging."
"These numbers reflect near universal acceptance of the
program," he said. "It's overwhelming support."
In addition to the 44,000, another 5,000 claimants whose
eligibility is less certain also have submitted paperwork for
enrollment, according to Merck.
"Counting and verification is still going on," said company
spokesman Kent Jarrell. "We really can't estimate at this point
when we'll have more information."
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 percent of the company's
profit that year.
Claimants must submit their medical records and other required
paperwork by March 30 to be eligible for interim payments, starting
in August. Plaintiffs' lawyers have until July, at the earliest,
and possibly as late as October to file claims for people who
aren't seeking partial payments.
Mreck shares fell 30 cents to $44 in morning trading Monday.