Merck: Last Vioxx payouts coming soon from $4.85B fund to settle heart attack, stroke lawsuits

Merck: Last Vioxx patient payouts to be made soon

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — Drugmaker Merck & Co. says it’s finished paying $4.85 billion into its fund to settle tens of thousands of claims that withdrawn painkiller Vioxx caused heart attacks or strokes.

The final payouts to those patients or their survivors should be made by the end of June. That’s according to a new company filing with regulators.

Merck says it has finalized some other parts of the sprawling litigation begun after it yanked Vioxx from the market in September 2004 because it doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

But some lawsuits are dragging on, with continuing motions and appeals in courts around the country. For instance, trials are set to start in mid-April in two Vioxx cases aimed at recovering costs related to use of the painkiller.