Vioxx users welcome Merck & Co. settlement

NEWARK, N.J. -- After 10 hospitalizations and a triple-bypass since his heart attack in 2000, lawyer Gilbert Tietz is confident he'll get a share of Merck & Co.'s $4.85 billion settlement with thousands of Vioxx users.

But word of the settlement, announced Friday, left him with mixed emotions.

"Angry. Happy that I'm still alive. I had arthritis, and I ended up with a heart attack from Vioxx," said Tietz, 62, a lawyer from Bethesda, Md.

Merck, of Whitehouse Station, agreed to the huge payout to end thousands of state and federal lawsuits in one of the largest drug settlements ever.

It's a bittersweet resolution for thousands of people who claimed injury due to Vioxx use, such as a Tietz, who had to retire early, and a Philadelphia man who had to replace bicycling with walking.

Merck had maintained it would fight every Vioxx case and made no settlements until Friday. The company's results in trials were mixed, prevailing in 10 of 15 verdicts. The company hopes the settlement will resolve about 60,000 Vioxx-related lawsuits it faces.

Tietz had to leave his law practice in 2001 and said that despite cardiac rehabilitation he still finds himself short of breath at times. "I'm not the whole person I was before," Tietz said.

"I'd like to litigate this. But ... they could litigate this for the next 20 years and we'll all be dead," he said.

Plaintiffs on Friday were still digesting the settlement, which requires 85 percent of eligible claimants to sign on.

"I still don't know what it means to me," said Don Hubbard, 67, who runs a New Orleans bed-and-breakfast and sued the company after suffering a stroke four years ago. He took Vioxx for nearly three years. "We're leaving it up to the attorneys to explain our options."

The deal is endorsed by many lawyers who have already filed cases. They stand to divide at least $1.6 billion of the settlement money, although individual shares would vary depending on agreements with their clients.

Those deals could be as high as 40 percent, although most states cap contingency fees at 33 percent, said Houston lawyer Mark Lanier, who handled the nation's first Vioxx trial.

"It is finally a measure of accountability for Merck. We have thousands and thousands of people who have had life-changing events because of this drug, and up to now, Merck has not paid one person," Lanier said.

Lanier estimated that payments would not be made earlier than April.

Another lawyer for Vioxx users, David Jacoby of Philadelphia, said the number of qualifying plaintiffs will depend on how selective law firms were in accepting clients.

"I don't think there's any question that people will not qualify," Jacoby said. "The good thing is, the meritorious cases will be compensated."

The deal is worthy because it provides certainty for Merck and plaintiffs, he said.

"There's really no such thing as a trivial heart attack or trivial stroke," Jacoby said. Victims lost income and the settlement "will start to rectify the situation."

"On any level, this is so much better than letting the litigation drag on," Jacoby said.

One of his clients, heart attack survivor John Arthin, said he welcomed the resolution.

"I really don't have any expectations. I'm just glad it's over," said Arthin, 58, of Philadelphia. He had a stent implanted after his 2004 heart attack, but two months later needed a bypass to correct scar tissue that developed, he said.

"I never had any symptoms, I never had any heart trouble, it doesn't run in my family," Arthin said, adding he used Vioxx for more than two years.

He lost over 60 days of work at Verizon, where he supervises technicians.

Although he could return to work, the one-time youth baseball coach said he can no longer bicycle. "I just take walks, and I walk my treadmill. I'm really not active," Arthin said.

Another lawyer with Vioxx cases, Russ Herman, said the settlement was good because it would have cost $1 million over five years to try an individual case that might have recovered $2 million in damages.

"That just doesn't make sense. It's not good for the system," Herman said. "Justice requires that people go through the system quickly and inexpensively."

---

Associated Press writers Linda A. Johnson in Trenton and Michael Kunzelman in New Orleans contributed to this story.

---

On the Net:

Settlement documents: http://www.officialvioxxsettlement.com/