With Three Vioxx Trials Under Its Belt, Merck Sticks To Its Guns
On January 3, 2006 Merck & Co.'s Chief Executive Officer Richard Clark told a Morgan Stanley pharmaceutical conference audience that Merck will defend itself against each and every Vioxx lawsuit filed against the drug company. By rejecting the notion of any "global" settlement of Vioxx cases, Mr. Clark reiterated the the position taken earlier by Merck's General Counsel, Kenneth Frazier.
At this Morgan Stanley conference, which was held in New York, Mr. Clark commented:
- "Thinking about a global settlement or trying to put this behind us is totally unacceptable."
- "We've had three cases, and as you know, at least to date, we haven't written a check."
At the time of Mr. Clark's remarks, of the more than 9,000 Vioxx lawsuits that had been filed, three cases had gone to trial with Merck losing the first, winning the second, and getting a "draw" by mistrial in the third.
Overall, most of the Vioxx cases filed thus far allege that Vioxx caused serious cardiovascular side effects such as heart attacks and strokes.
(Posted by: Tom Lamb)