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Merck to Pay $4.85 Billion in Vioxx Settlement

By Maria Vogel-Short
November 09, 2007

After three years of sticking to a hard-line policy of trying every one of the approximate 26,600 suits lodged over its painkiller Vioxx, Merck & Co. Inc. announced on Nov. 9 that it had come to an agreement that could settle 95% of them.

By the terms of the deal, the Whitehouse Station drug maker will pay $4.85 billion into a settlement fund for qualifying claimants ' generally those who can prove they suffered heart attacks or ischemic strokes in close proximity to Vioxx use.

Merck withdrew Vioxx in September 2004 after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attacks in some patients. Since then, Merck has been barraged with tens of thousands of suits by or on behalf of former users, only a handful of which have gone to trial.

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