Merck to pay 4.85 billion dollars to settle Vioxx cases

New York - US pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co will pay nearly 5 billion dollars to settle claims stemming from its Vioxx painkiller drug, which was pulled from market shelves over health risks in 2004, the company said Friday. The third-largest US drugmaker said the fund of 4.85 billion dollars would cover about 95 per cent of all claimants, though certain conditions still had to be met and the validity of each individual claim verified. 'This is a good and responsible agreement,' Merck's chairman and chief executive Richard Clark said in a statement. Sales of Vioxx were halted after a study showed the drug increased the risk of heart attacks, prompting some 27,000 patients to file lawsuits. Merck had until now won 11 of 16 cases that went to court. Vioxx brought in 2.5 billion dollars in revenue for Merck the year before production was halted. The US Food and Drug Administration this spring rejected a follow-up to Vioxx developed by Merck, called Arcoxia. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Merck to pay 4.85 billion dollars to settle Vioxx cases

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