June 28, 2016
A New Jersey federal judge on Tuesday granted final approval to a $1.06 billion deal between Merck & Co. Inc. and its investors to resolve multidistrict litigation over the alleged illegal marketing of the painkiller Vioxx, saying the settlement was an "extremely fair and reasonable" conclusion to the long-running case.
May 25, 2016
Class attorneys for Merck & Co. Inc. shareholders that reached a $1.06 billion deal with the pharmaceutical giant to resolve multidistrict litigation over the alleged illegal marketing of Vioxx on Tuesday urged a New Jersey federal court to approve the deal, saying that only 14 individuals and no institutional investors have objected.
January 15, 2016
Merck announced Friday that it will pay $830 million to settle investors' claims in multidistrict litigation accusing the company of committing securities fraud violations by illegally marketing the painkiller Vioxx, after the drugmaker previously agreed to pay a criminal penalty of nearly $1 billion in 2011.
July 10, 2015
Merck & Co. and its former vice president, Edward Scolnick, defendants in litigation alleging the company misrepresented the heart attack risk of its arthritis drug Vioxx, sent letters this week urging a federal judge not to allow plaintiffs to add an additional claim against Scolnick, saying it's too late.
May 13, 2015
A New Jersey federal judge ruled Wednesday that a class alleging securities fraud could not prove Merck & Co. Inc. misrepresented Vioxx's heart attack risks at least prior to a study comparing the arthritis medication with another leading drug, but could still prove Merck misled investors after learning of the study results.
March 26, 2015
Shareholders accusing Merck & Co. Inc.'s former vice president of lying about the study results on Vioxx's heart attack link told a New Jersey federal court Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Omnicare ruling "vindicates" their case theory and directly rejects the executive's summary judgment argument.
June 18, 2013
Several Allianz Global Investors units and Swedish national pension fund Fjarde AP-fonden have dismissed their claims in a multidistrict litigation claiming Merck & Co. and its executives misrepresented arthritis painkiller Vioxx to inflate Merck stock, say documents filed Tuesday in New Jersey federal court.
December 13, 2012
A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday affirmed a magistrate judge's order compelling Merck & Co. Inc. to hand over purportedly privileged documents produced for government investigations concerning its arthritis painkiller Vioxx in multidistrict securities litigation alleging it misrepresented the drug to inflate its stock.
October 29, 2012
A New Jersey federal judge on Friday refused to disturb his decision nixing claims from a shareholder suit against Merck & Co. Inc. over alleged misrepresentations about the painkiller Vioxx, rejecting a Dutch pension fund's contention that he made inconsistent rulings on the same statement from Merck.
October 09, 2012
A New Jersey federal judge on Friday ordered Merck & Co. to hand over purportedly privileged documents produced for government investigations concerning Vioxx — a partial discovery win for multidistrict litigation plaintiffs accusing the company of inflating its stock through misrepresentations about the recalled arthritis medication.