A $253 million jury verdict in a Texas Vioxx trial has exposed Merck to a flood of new lawsuits. More than 1,000 new suits have been filed just in New Jersey over the past eight weeks, and the AP is reporting that the Whitehouse Station, NJ, pharma giant has seen the cases it must fight swell from 5,000 to well over 6,500. Plaintiffs' lawyers say that the actual number is far higher. Merck said that the rising tide of lawsuits alleging that Merck hid damaging safety data on a drug responsible for thousands of deaths and strokes wasn't unexpected and won't change its legal strategy of fighting most cases individually.
- read this AP report for more information