PHILADELPHIA (AFX) - Merck & Co. has agreed to tell its U.S. employees to immediately stop leaving messages about the painkiller Vioxx on the drug company's voicemail system, according to an order from a New Jersey judge.
In an order signed Friday, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee in Atlantic City also said Merck, of Whitehouse Station, N.J., and its employees must securely preserve existing Vioxx-related voicemail messages.
Higbee said the order doesn't apply to messages to and from Merck legal employees directly related to the massive Vioxx litigation, in which thousands of people have claimed the drug caused heart attacks and other health problems.
Higbee's order stemmed from a request by plaintiffs' attorneys for a court order requiring the company to preserve voicemails regarding Vioxx for potential use as evidence in litigation. Merck responded that doing so would be 'unduly burdensome,' Merck's outside attorney, Ted Mayer, said in a written statement Monday.
'Until the court has an opportunity to rule on this issue, we have instructed employees not to leave any Vioxx-related voicemails going forward and agreed to preserve whatever existing voice mails employees may have,' Mayer said.
Plaintiff attorneys with knowledge of the issue couldn't immediately be reached Monday.
Merck had about 31,900 employees in the United States, including Puerto Rico, as of Dec. 31, the last period for which the company reported a head count.
Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market in September 2004 after a study showed it elevated the risk of cardiovascular events in people taking the drug for at least 18 months.
The company is battling more than 14,000 product-liability lawsuits filed by people who claim their use of Vioxx caused heart attacks and other injuries, and that Merck failed to properly warn of the drug's risks. Merck has denied these charges in cases that have gone to trial. About half of the lawsuits are being overseen by Judge Higbee.
Merck has a 4-4 record in Vioxx trials that have reached a jury verdict and withstood post-trial motions. Another trial was set to begin Monday in federal court in New Orleans.
Merck shares rose 23 cents, or 0.6 percent, to close at $41.29 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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