Legal News

Merck?s Latest Litigation Headache: Vytorin

By Ashby Jones

Our good friends over at the Health Blog got down and dirty this morning with Merck’s press release concerning its latest earnings report and plucked out this little gem: there are “50 civil class action lawsuits alleging common law and state consumer fraud claims in connection with the sale and promotion of the joint-venture products Vytorin and Zetia.”

Zoinks. Fifty class-action suits? And we thought that with its massive Vioxx settlement reached late last year, Merck had put its litigation troubles behind it. Apparently not. The cholesterol-reduction drug, a combination of Schering-Plough’s Zetia and Merck’s Zocor, has been in the news for about two weeks, since the companies released results from a study that showed that Vytorin isn’t more effective in putting the brakes on heart disease than Zocor alone.

We haven’t seen any of the complaints lodged against Merck/Schering over Vytorin. But earlier this month, New York attorney David Rheingold told the Health Blog about a putative class action filed in federal court on behalf of his mother, who he says used the drug from 2005 to 2007. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the drug makers misrepresented the safety and efficacy of the drug and that the results of a study on Vytorin were purposely concealed in order to enhance sales of the drugs.

The stakes are likely lower here than they were for Vioxx, which were alleged to cause serious injury. Vytorin hasn’t been linked to injuries, but Rheingold thinks Schering and Merck should reimburse people for the cost of the drug. “These drugs were of no benefit, therefore everyone who ingested [the drug] and paid for them, or their health insurance company or Medicare should be reimbursed dollar for dollar,” he recently told the WSJ’s Sarah Rubenstein. “Especially in light of the Merck having evidence that there was no benefit.”

“We have done nothing wrong and we stand behind this product,” said Rosemarie Yancosek, a spokeswoman for Schering-Plough. “Numerous suits have been filed, and we plan to defend all of them vigorously.”

Added Christopher Garland, a spokesman for Merck: “Merck stands behind the safety and efficacy profiles of Zetia and Vytorin. The Company acted with integrity and in good faith in this trial.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 30, 2008 (boomark / email).