The Vioxx Settlement

Washington, DC - January 7

The Federalist Society and the American Enterprise Institute are co-sponsoring a panel discussion on the Vioxx Settlement.  The panel will discuss potential ethical concerns with the settlement, and consider how the case settled, particularly for so much less than originally anticipated, whether the settlement will stand up under legal challenge, and what will remain of the Vioxx litigation if it does. Please join us at AEI on Monday, January 7, at 11:45 a.m.

In 2004, Merck withdrew its pain reliever Vioxx from the market because of new studies showing increased cardiovascular risk.  Merck announced that it would not settle any of the tens of thousands of Vioxx lawsuits filed.  After a $254 million verdict in the first Vioxx trial in 2005, some observers predicted over $25 billion in liability for the company.  Fifteen trials later, Merck and the plaintiffs' attorneys announced a settlement of the outstanding personal injury litigation-for under $5 billion.  Merck stock rose after the announcement, and is now higher than before it withdrew Vioxx from the market.  But some law professors are arguing that a new and unusual provision in the settlement raises ethical concerns.
 
Why did Merck settle?  And why was the settlement for so much less than originally anticipated?  Will the settlement stand up under legal challenge, and what will remain of the Vioxx litigation if it does?
 
At this event cosponsored by AEI and the Federalist Society, a panel of experts will explore these and other questions.

Registration and Lunch
11:45 a.m.

Panel
12:00 noon

• Andy D. Birchfield, Jr., Beasley Allen
• Professor George M. Cohen, University of Virginia School of Law
• Theodore H. Frank, American Enterprise Institute
• Mark Hermann, Jones Day
• Professor Richard A. Nagareda, Vanderbilt University Law
• John E. Calfee, American Enterprise Institute, Moderator 

Adjournment
2:00 p.m.

There is no cost to attend this event.
Please register on-line at http://www.aei.org/event1626.