Merck spent $285 million last year on Vioxx lawsuits

Vioxx Lawyer – Lawsuits

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VIOXX ® Worldwide sales in 2003 were $2.5 billion.  

Merck now faces 9,650 personal injury and other Vioxx-related lawsuits.

Wall Street analysts have projected ultimately at between $18 billion and $30 billion.

Merck spent $285 million last year on Vioxx lawsuits

By Thomas Ginsberg

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Merck & Co. Inc. said today it spent $285 million last year to defend itself against Vioxx lawsuits and has chipped in another $295 million to cover lawyers' bills in the future.

Merck's payment into its reserve, now at $685 million, along with charges taken for restructuring in the wake of the Vioxx debacle, left its per-share earnings in the fourth quarter at 51 cents, up just a penny from the 2004 period.

For the whole year, earnings were $2.10 per share, more than 19 percent below the $2.61 reported a year earlier, due to lingering effects of the recall of the painkiller in September 2004.

Merck, with about 10,000 employees in suburban Philadelphia , recalled Vioxx after a company-sponsored study found it increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Excluding the charges, the company's 2005 per-share earnings were $2.53, ahead of Wall Street consensus estimates.

The Whitehouse Station , N.J. , company said fourth-quarter net income was $4.63 billion, 20 percent below the $5.81 billion reported in the same quarter of 2004.

Merck said its total sales decreased 4 percent for the year, to $22 billion from $22.9 billion for 2004, due to the loss of projected Vioxx sales. Excluding Vioxx, Merck said sales revenues from other products rose 3 percent.

The company now faces 9,650 personal injury and other Vioxx-related lawsuits, with a jury record so far at one loss, one victory and one mistrial. This week, a New Jersey judge dismissed another case.

The amount Merck has spent or stockpiled for lawyers' bills still does not include a fund to pay plaintiffs themselves, which Wall Street analysts have projected ultimately at between $18 billion and $30 billion.

In November, Merck's new chief executive, Richard T. Clark, announced a massive restructuring and downsizing campaign, including the elimination of 7,000 jobs.

As of Dec. 31, the company had laid off about 1,100 people and taken charges of $401 million, half of it for employee "separation" costs.

Merck Accused of lying to the New England Journal of Medicine

December 9, 2005 -- An editorial appearing Thursday December 9, 2005 in The New England Journal of Medicine called into question the information provided by Merck for a key study about cardiovascular events caused by the arthritis drug Vioxx. The study called into question was published in November of 2000 for the VIGOR (Vioxx Gastrointestinal Outcomes Research) Study Group.The prestigious medical journal requested a correction to the information, the lack of which amounted to an "understatement" of the risks.

Merck Loses First Vioxx Case

Merck was ordered to pay more than $253 million to a Texas widow whose husband died after taking the drug maker's Vioxx painkiller. A jury found the Merck liable for the death of Robert Ernst, a triathlete and marathon runner, who had taken Vioxx for tendonitis over a seven-month period before he died in 2001 from heart arrhythmia.

VIOXX ® use leads to a kidney transplant for a former Southern Mississippi tailback

Source: USA TODAY
Published: June 4, 2003  

Former Southern Mississippi tailback, the only player in history of his school to run for more than 1,000 yards in his first two seasons, has just undergone a kidney transplant. The surgical procedure has put the chances of an NFL career to rest and Nix has had to exchange his football for a dialysis machine. Nix filed a VIOXX ® lawsuit and Celebrex lawsuit after alleging the use of the anti-inflammatory drugs prescribed for his sprained ankle led to his need for the kidney transplant. His doctors have said that VIOXX ® and Celebrex use led to the kidney ailment that causes extreme protein loss called membranous glomerulonephritis, which does not allow the kidney from properly filtering waste from the blood. Characterized by high blood pressure and fluid retention, Nix fought through the kidney condition and returned for the 2002 season after sitting out for most of 2000 and 2001 recovering. Tests following the 2002 season revealed that Nix's condition had worsened and that a kidney transplant was necessary.

In addition to the cost of the kidney surgery, Nix will incur thousands of dollars worth of continuing medical care in the future, all because of the use of VIOXX ® and Celebrex he believes. VIOXX ® and Celebrex makers continue to maintain the anti-inflammatory is safe.

Calif. VIOXX ® Lawsuit Claims 'Life-Threatening' Side Effects

Source: Reuters
Published: July 02, 2003

Carolyn Baker has filed a lawsuit against Merck & Company claiming she suffered serious side effects after taking the drug maker's arthritis painkiller, VIOXX ® . Baker is seeking unspecified damages and compensation to enabler her "to treat and monitor the dangerous, severe and life-threatening side effects" caused by VIOXX ® , the court papers said.

The side effects are describes as "edema, changes in blood pressure, cardiovascular events, cerebrovascular events and death."

"Merck stands behind the efficacy and safety profiles of VIOXX ® and will vigorously defend the lawsuit," Chris Loder, Merck spokesman, said. "Merck considers patient safety to be of the utmost importance."

Reuters reported that, "Baker's lawsuit blames Merck for playing down the results of a 2000 study that linked VIOXX ® and drugs of its class, called COX-2 inhibitors, to "several severe and life threatening medical disorders" similar to the ones she experienced."

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