|  | | 2008 News and Press Releases | | |
DISMISSAL NEWS:
Court Reinstates Merck-Vioxx Suit
Linda A. Johnson
New Jersey Record. September 10, 2008
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EXCERPT: Pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. said Tuesday it is considering challenging a federal appeals court's reinstatement of a dismissed shareholders' lawsuit over its former blockbuster painkiller Vioxx. A three-judge panel from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals earlier Tuesday voted 2-1 to reinstate a class-action securities lawsuit that had been dismissed in April 2007 by U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark. "I'm very pleased and excited," said Richard Weiss, a partner at Milberg LLP, one of four firms appointed by the district court to handle the plaintiffs' case. "It's usually such an uphill fight" to win an appeal. He said the ruling would give thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of plaintiffs an opportunity to finally have a court hear their claims that Merck concealed the risks of Vioxx. Chesler had dismissed the suit, filed in November 2003, ruling that all the plaintiffs' claims were time-barred under the statute of limitation. Investors had charged Merck with providing misleading information or omitting information about the risks involved with Vioxx. Two appellate judges concluded the plaintiffs filed suit within the time limit because amid early signs of trouble with Vioxx, Merck was reassuring investors about the safety of Vioxx and financial analysts were projecting growth in sales. Merck could ask either the full Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court to review the divided decision. |
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