Payouts Unclear in $4.85B Vioxx Settlement
The expected payout to plaintiffs in a $4.85 billion Vioxx settlement may not be high enough to satisfy some of their lawyers.
The deal allows Vioxx maker Merck & Co. to pull out of the settlement if 85 percent of the plaintiffs do not agree to it. Boosting that prospect is an unusual aspect of the settlement that requires plaintiffs lawyers to recommend the deal to all of their clients if at least one participates, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.).
Still, some lawyers expressed doubt. Denver plaintiffs lawyer Beth Klein told the newspaper she doesn’t yet have a handle on the final payout to her clients. “People are going to want to know the lowest amount they could get, the worst-case scenario, before they agree to that settlement,” she said.
Christopher Seeger, who helped negotiate the settlement for the plaintiffs, estimates the average payout will be about $200,000. Individual plaintiffs could get as little as 50,000 and as much as $1.5 million, depending on the facts of the case, he said.
But plaintiffs will have to pay out of that recovery their attorney fees and expenses. They may also have to reimburse Medicaid, Medicare and private health insurers. Litigation over private insurance claims could take years to resolve.
“It’s possible this could fall apart,” said Texas lawyer W. Mark Lanier, who has more than 1,000 clients who suffered health problems after taking the painkiller. Still, he told the newspaper he thought the 85 percent level would be reached, as did Merck’s co-lead counsel, Theodore Mayer.
The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog posted a copy of the 70-page final agreement (PDF).
