U.S. Chamber Responds to VIOXX Settlement

Today Lisa Rickard,
President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform
issued the following statement following the announcement that Merck & Co.
has decided to settle outstanding claims against the company related to the
drug VIOXX.

    “Every day companies face a legal environment where plaintiffs’ lawyers
attempt to extort billions of dollars in bloated settlements that often
benefit attorneys more than the injured party themselves. From the
beginning, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has recognized Merck’s principled
defense strategy to have each VIOXX claim evaluated and decided in court
based solely on the merits of the individual claim. That aggressive
strategy has clearly been successful and has allowed Merck to create a
positive legal environment where they could drive this issue to conclusion
and craft a reasonable settlement where individuals with valid claims will
actually receive compensation. We believe this resolution could only have
come about because of their strong and principled legal strategy in this
case.”

    The mission of the Institute for Legal Reform is to make America’s
legal system simpler, fairer, and faster for everyone. The U.S. Chamber of
Commerce is the world’s largest business federation, representing more than
3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.