Merck to Seek Appellate Review of Class Certification Decision in Vioxx Proceedings in Saskatchewan
MONTREAL, Feb. 20 /CNW Telbec/ - Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. has
learned that the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench has decided to
certify class proceedings in a lawsuit regarding VIOXX(R). The
Company intends to seek appellate review of the decision because it
believes that each plaintiff's case should be tried
separately.
"Our legal strategy remains the same," said Maurice Laprairie, of
MacPherson, Leslie & Tyerman LLP, Saskatchewan counsel for
Merck Frosst and Merck & Co., Inc. "Although we argued against
the creation of a class, the Court's decision still requires that
each plaintiff must prove his or her claims on an individual basis
because each plaintiff's case is unique and depends on an
individual set of facts. Heart attacks, for example, are
unfortunately common in the population and caused by many different
risk factors."
"The Company intends to defend these cases vigorously over the
coming years, and we are confident that the courts will decide
these cases based on sound science," said Mary M. Thomson, of
Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Canadian national counsel for Merck
Frosst and Merck & Co., Inc. "We will continue to argue that
centralized judicial management of individual cases, not a class
action, is the preferable procedure for trying each case in a fair
and expeditious manner."
Merck acted responsibly - from researching VIOXX prior to approval
in clinical trials involving almost 10,000 patients - to monitoring
the medicine while it was on the market - to voluntarily
withdrawing the medicine when we did.
On Nov. 9, 2007, Merck & Co., Inc entered into a resolution
agreement concerning individual product liability claims against
the Company in the United States. That agreement does not admit
fault or causation and does not apply to Canada. VIOXX lawsuits
outside the United States are in various stages of the legal
process in different countries with different rules and judicial
processes.
About Merck Frosst Canada Ltd.
At Merck Frosst, patients come first. Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. is a research-driven pharmaceutical company. Merck Frosst discovers, develops and markets a broad range of innovative medicines to improve human health. Th eMerck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research, one of the largest biomedical research facilities in Canada, has the mandate to discover new therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases, inflammatory diseases, diabetes and osteoporosis. More information about Merck Frosst is available at http://www.merckfrosst.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This statement contains "forward-looking statements" as that
term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These
statements are based on management's current expectations and
involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause results to differ
materially from those set forth in the statements. The
forward-looking statements may include statements regarding product
development, product potential or financial performance. No
forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results may
differ materially from those projected. Merck undertakes no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement,
whether as a result of new information, future events, or
otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this press release should
be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect
Merck's business, particularly those mentioned in the risk factors
and cautionary statements in Item 1A of Merck's Form 10-K for the
year ended Dec. 31, 2006, and in its periodic reports on Form 10-Q
and Form 8-K, which the Company
incorporates by reference.
-30-
/For further information: Media Contacts: Evan Zelikovitz,
(613)
862-0302; Kent Jarrell, (202) 230-1833; Investor Contact: Graeme
Bell, (908)
423-5185/
Posted: February 2008
