Federal Judge Says Vioxx Cases May be Sent Back to States
January 13, 2006 16:19

"The judge overseeing federal lawsuits over Merck & Co. Inc.'s Vioxx painkiller said he might end his effort to combine the cases for a possible settlement because of delays in getting some claims to trial. U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon in New Orleans said he was having trouble getting jury trials scheduled after Hurricane Katrina displaced thousands of residents and shut the city's courthouses for months. Plaintiffs' attorneys are pressing ahead with similar Vioxx suits in state courts around the United States. Fallon, at a hearing on Tuesday, said he might 'shut down' the consolidation 'if all the cases are being tried in state court before we get one tried in federal court.'" Bloomberg News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/6/06