Merck

Merck to pay $32m in Vioxx ruling

Drugs firm Merck has been ordered to pay $32m (£18m) in damages after its Vioxx painkiller was found to have contributed to a fatal heart attack.

A Texas jury awarded $25m in punitive damages and $7m in compensatory damages – holding the firm liable after a 71-year-old died after taking the drug.

Merck will appeal and said Leonel Garza had died after years of heart disease

Merck fined $9m in Vioxx lawsuit

Drugs firm Merck has been ordered to pay $9m (£5.1m) in damages to a US man after its Vioxx painkiller was found to have contributed to his heart attack.

A New Jersey jury awarded the punitive damages to 77-year old John McDarby, almost a week after it found Merck liable for his heart attack

Split ruling in latest Vioxx case

A US court has reached a split verdict in the latest case brought against the manufacturer of the painkiller Vioxx.

A New Jersey jury found that Merck & Co was liable for one user’s subsequent heart attack and ordered the firm to pay $4.5m (£2

Merck denies heart attack claim

A US court has heard how pharmaceutical giant Merck knowingly concealed the risks of its arthritis drug Vioxx.

The allegation was made by a lawyer for Thomas Cona, 59, who blames his heart attack on the once popular treatment.

Being heard before a New Jersey judge, it is the latest of thousands of Vioxx cases due to go to court

Vioxx court case ends in mistrial

A US judge has declared a mistrial in the first federal lawsuit against drugs giant Merck and its Vioxx painkiller.

The move came after a jury in Houston was unable to agree on whether the drug had caused a man’s fatal heart attack.

Merck is facing a mass of Vioxx lawsuits

US giant punished for faulty drug

US drugs giant Merck has been ordered to pay $253.4m (£141.07m) to the widow of a man who died from a heart attack blamed on the popular painkiller Vioxx

Vioxx drug ban hits Merck profits

Profits at US pharmaceutical giant Merck fell 21%, after the firm was forced to withdraw its Vioxx painkiller last year.

Sales of the drug were halted amid safety fears on 30 September, causing a dip in fourth-quarter profits to $1.1bn (£0

Merck shares dive on Vioxx fears

Shares in US drug maker Merck tumbled nearly 10% on Monday after a press report suggesting the firm may have ignored problems with one of its drugs.

Merck withdrew Vioxx, a top-selling painkiller, on 30 September after evidence linking it to heart problems.

The Wall Street Journal has now published e-mails which, if genuine, suggest Merck may have known about the concerns for years, the paper says

Merck may owe taxman $2 billion

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Merck & Co Inc. said Friday the Internal Revenue Service could make it pay more than $2 billion in taxes and penalties because of the agency’s decision to disallow deductions the drug maker has claimed since 1993 from a partnership.

Investors initially appear unconcerned by the tax issue as Merck (MRK: down $0