Seeger Weiss Negotiates Historic Agreement with Insurers to Reduce Liens on Settlement Awards for Thousands of Patients
Seeger Weiss Negotiates Historic Agreement with Insurers to Reduce Liens on Settlement Awards for Thousands of Patients Participating in $4.85 Billion Vioxx Settlement Program
Unprecedented settlement includes most major insurance carriers and other third-party payors, who have agreed to reduce liens claimed for medical expenses on the settlement awards of claimants participating in the Vioxx settlement program; agreement maximizes recovery for those individuals and their families who claim to have suffered a heart attack, stroke, or sudden cardiac death as a result of ingesting Vioxx
NEW YORK (January 22, 2009) - Seeger Weiss name partner Christopher A. Seeger has negotiated a first-of-its-kind agreement with more than 100 insurance companies that reduces lien amounts claimed by insurers on the settlement awards of thousands of claimants participating in the Vioxx Settlement Program, who allege to have suffered heart attacks, strokes, and sudden cardiac death as a result of ingesting the pain medication, Vioxx. The agreement maximizes compensation to patients, while also allowing some recovery for those insurers who incurred medical treatment expenses for the claimants' injuries.
It is the first time such a broad accord with insurers has been worked out in a mass tort claim. Mr. Seeger served as chief negotiator of this historic agreement with the insurers and is co-lead counsel of the federal Vioxx litigation, which is presided over by Judge Eldon Fallon of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, in New Orleans. Mr. Seeger notes that the agreement both substantially reduces insurance liens at the same time that it caps total medical bills of patients participating in a $4.85 billion global Vioxx settlement reached in 2007, one of the largest civil litigation recoveries in history and the largest drug industry settlement on record. The agreement with insurers, which will be formally announced in New Orleans this week, includes many of the world's largest health care providers. According to Mr. Seeger, the agreement clears the way for insurance companies to resolve their reimbursement claims for bills accrued by patients who took Vioxx and suffered heart attacks, strokes, and sudden cardiac death.
"This agreement really maximizes the value of multi-district litigation," Mr. Seeger noted. "It harnesses the efficiency and power of the global Vioxx settlement by passing through an even greater recovery to our clients." Around 99% of eligible patients have now enrolled in the Vioxx Settlement Program.
Mr. Seeger continued, "Judge Fallon played an enormously important role in keeping both the plaintiffs and the insurance companies focused on what mattered most: bearing in mind those who had suffered as a result of Vioxx's serious side effects and compensating them - to the degree it is possible - for what they have been through. I think all sides maintained this outlook during the negotiations, and we were able to craft a practical and sensible agreement that helps tens of thousands of Americans who had huge medical bills hanging over them."
Vioxx was marketed by Merck & Co. as a painkiller and became one of the most widely-prescribed drugs for arthritis sufferers, but was removed from shelves in September 2004 after it was shown to produce serious cardiovascular side effects, including heart attacks, stroke and sudden cardiac death, in some patients on extended treatment.
Mr. Seeger played a prominent role representing plaintiffs between 2002 and 2007 in worldwide settlement negotiations with Merck & Co., which concluded when the drug manufacturer agreed to pay the $4.85 billion to settle thousands of toxic injury claims related to Vioxx. Subsequently, Mr. Seeger was integral to negotiations with plaintiff lawyers across the country, which resulted in a near universal participation of eligible claimants signing on to the Vioxx settlement.
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Note: Seeger Weiss LLP is one of nation's leading trial law firms handling complex individual, mass and class action litigation on behalf of consumers, investors and injured persons. The firm, with offices in New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey, represents plaintiffs in a variety of practice areas, including pharmaceutical injury, securities and investment fraud, consumer protection, environmental and asbestos exposures, personal injury and medical malpractice, product defect, antitrust, and commercial disputes. For more information, see www.seegerweiss.com.
