Russ Herman Leads $4.85 Billion Vioxx MDL Settlement for Heart-Attack and Stroke Victims

Merck launched Vioxx in 1999 as a prescription painkiller for arthritis and acute pain. For five years the drug generated roughly $2.5 billion annually, but internal and external studies were accumulating evidence that it significantly increased the risk of heart attack and stroke. On September 30, 2004, Merck voluntarily withdrew Vioxx from the worldwide market after a clinical trial confirmed that patients taking the drug for at least 18 months faced twice the cardiovascular risk of those on a placebo.

The withdrawal touched off one of the largest mass-tort actions in American legal history. Thousands of individuals who had suffered heart attacks or strokes while taking Vioxx filed suit, and the cases were consolidated before U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon in the Eastern District of Louisiana as MDL-1657. The litigation eventually gathered claims from an estimated 45,000 to 50,000 plaintiffs across the country.

Russ Herman of Herman Herman and Katz was appointed Plaintiffs' Liaison Counsel by the court, a role that placed him at the center of all communications between the plaintiffs' side and the court. He also served as chair of the plaintiffs' negotiating committee, the group that sat directly across the table from Merck's legal team throughout settlement talks. Negotiators logged more than 50 in-person meetings held across eight states, plus hundreds of additional phone discussions, before reaching an agreement.

On November 9, 2007, Merck and the plaintiffs' leadership announced a $4.85 billion resolution. The agreement was structured to pay eligible claimants who could provide medical documentation of a qualifying heart attack or stroke. Merck did not admit liability as part of the deal. Herman described the outcome as 'a great day for the court system.'

The settlement stood as one of the largest product-liability resolutions in U.S. history at the time of its announcement. By the filing deadline, the program was on track to close out the bulk of domestic Vioxx personal-injury claims under a single coordinated framework administered by BrownGreer PLC.