Merck agreed on Friday to pay $4.85 billion to end thousands of state and federal lawsuits over its painkiller Vioxx in one of the largest drug settlements ever.
Officials estimated the deal, if accepted, would end 45,000 to 50,000 personal injury suits involving Vioxx users in the U.S. who suffered a heart attack or ischemic stroke, the type in which blood flow to the brain is blocked.
"Without this settlement, the litigation might very well stretch on for years," Merck executive vice president Kenneth Frazier said. To qualify for a settlement, plaintiffs must have filed claims by Thursday and need to meet several criteria. These include medical proof that they suffered a heart attack or stroke, that they received at least 30 Vioxx pills and that they received enough pills to support a presumption that they were ingested within two weeks before injury.
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