• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Judge: No Class-Action Suit Over Vioxx

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
Nov 22, 2006 1:25 pm US/Eastern

Judge: No Class-Action Suit Over Vioxx

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ― Thousands of federal lawsuits claiming the drug Vioxx killed or injured people by causing heart attacks cannot be pooled into one national class action, a judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon, who was appointed to deal with pretrial matters for all federal suits involving Merck & Co.'s painkiller, did not rule on the possibility of separate class-actions suits for each state and the District of Columbia.

He rejected the plaintiffs' proposal to try all of the cases under the laws in New Jersey, where Merck is headquartered.

It makes more sense to apply the law of each plaintiff's home state to that plaintiff's claims, Fallon ruled.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.