The Drugmaker Won't Even Guesstimate Its Vioxx Legal Bill -- Or Discuss The Hunt For A New CEO, Who Will Face The Debacle's Financial Fallout

...analysts and investors didn't get answers to the most pressing questions. There was no update, for example, on the ongoing search for a successor to the 63-year-old Gilmartin, who is scheduled to retire in 2006. Nor did Gilmartin provide any guidance on what Merck's Vioxx-related legal bills might end up costing the outfit. "That liability is the thing that will drive the stock over the next few years," says Sanford Bernstein analyst Richard Evans, who figures the tab could run as high as $38 billion.

Kenneth Frazier, Merck's general counsel, said 475 lawsuits have been filed alleging injury from Vioxx. Then there are the ongoing inquiries being conducted by Congressional committees and the Justice Dept. into Merck's handling of the drug's withdrawal.

...earnings still stand to take a hit from lost Vioxx revenues and the generic erosion of Zocor. And then there's the potential for another earnings drain if Merck starts to reserve for its Vioxx liability. The timing and size of that impact were of the many questions left hanging in Whitehouse Station.
FULL STORY