A total of 57,167 claimants have registered for the settlement program, which Fallon said represents about 95 percent of potential claimants. Merck has said it will withdraw from the agreement unless at least 85 percent of people in different groups of claimants sign on.See, money.cnn.com for the whole article.
A total of 3,065 claimants already have moved on to the next phase and enrolled in the program, said Merck spokesman Kent Jarrell.
"We expect that we will meet and exceed the thresholds required for funding the settlement," Jarrell said following Friday's hearing. "We just don't know when it will occur."
This is a prime example of Merck’s spin on things. First, the individual plaintiffs didn’t register for the settlement, their lawyers did it for them. Many did it without consulting their clients.
Doing the math, now this is approximate, less than 6% of the plaintiffs have signed (opt-in) the Release of All Claims. Merck has a long way to go and a little more than one month left to get the other 79% of plaintiffs to sign. Therefore, if you are currently a plaintiff looking to investigate your options, don’t get disheartened just because Merck is touting “success”. As they say, “the game ain't over until the fat lady sings”.
And I am not singing!
1 comment:
I was beginning to feel like I was the ONLY one! I am a surviving spouse of a vioxx victim. My husband had three total heart attacks. The first two he filed suit against Vioxx for. The final fatal one was in 2006 (and in my opinion is directly related to the first two!) When I called my attorney because I found out about the settlement calulations (he didn't tell me - I found it) he proceeded to "whine" about how difficult it is getting for attorneys....how the FDA is pending a decision that forbids anyone to sue a drug manufactuor...how the judge has made it difficult for anyone to move forward if they don't participate in the deal, how we only have a 50/50 chance of winning at best...blah...
Then he preceded to make me feel like a money hungry person becuase I said that the potential amount didn't come close to the value of my lost husband's salary alone, not to mention all the other suffering with the loss of my husband of 24 years and our son who lost his father at age 11. After attorney cuts, attorney costs (which are in addition to the percentage that they take, these costs are research, etc...) and then possible liens on insurance....the legacy our son is left with is possible debt!! All the articles you find on the web say we (plaintiffs) are the winners of millions of dollars. They have no real clue what is happening and what the truth is. Merck is the only winner in this deal.
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