In Three Months, An Additional 450 Fosamax® Femur Fracture Cases Were Filed Against Merck, And Are Pending: That's Over 5,585 In Total

The net increase of about 450 cases is completely attributable to new femur fracture cases, allegedly related to Fosamax^® use -- as the net number of similar ONJ cases has declined by about 20, net, net -- due to the Lone Pine order exclusions, entered by the very able Judge Keenan in Manhattan's federal District Court, thus far. [More of those will be dismissed this month, as the second deadline papers are finalized.] So, there are now 5,585 plaintiffs groups, and growing, day by day.

Below is a complete comparison of the first quarter 2013 disclosure, compared to the year end 2012 disclosure on the topic, specifically marked to show changes. As an unrelated side note, I've also included Merck's entirely new paragraph -- on Januvia^®/Janumet^® litigation, at the bottom -- fascinating. That appears to be emerging as another material trend in Merck's litigation defense spend.

All of this is in Merck's SEC Form 10-Q -- as filed after 5 PM EDT, this evening, at the EDGAR window.

Fosamax

 

As previously disclosed, Merck is a defendant in product liability lawsuits in the United States involving Fosamax (the “Fosamax Litigation”). As of DecemberMarch 31, 20122013, approximately 4,560990 cases, which include approximately 5,140585 plaintiff groups, had been filed and were pending against Merck in either federal or state court, including one case which seeks class action certification, as well as damages and/or medical monitoring. In approximately 1,230210 of these actions, plaintiffs allege, among other things, that they have suffered osteonecrosis of the jaw (“ONJ”), generally subsequent to invasive dental procedures, such as tooth extraction or dental implants and/or delayed healing, in association with the use of Fosamax. In addition, plaintiffs in approximately 3,330780 of these actions generally allege that they sustained femur fractures and/or other bone injuries (“Femur Fractures”) in association with the use of Fosamax.

Cases Alleging ONJ and/or Other Jaw Related Injuries

In August 2006, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (the “JPML”) ordered that certain Fosamax product liability cases pending in federal courts nationwide should be transferred and consolidated into one multidistrict litigation (the “Fosamax ONJ MDL”) for coordinated pre-trial proceedings. The Fosamax ONJ MDL has been transferred to Judge John Keenan in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. As a result of the JPML order, approximately 960940 of the cases are before Judge Keenan. In the first Fosamax ONJ MDL trial, Boles v. Merck, the Fosamax ONJ MDL court declared a mistrial because the eight person jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. The Boles case was retried in June 2010 and resulted in a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $8 million. Merck filed post-trial motions seeking judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, a new trial. In October 2010, the court denied Merck’s post-trial motions but sua sponte ordered a remittitur reducing the verdict to $1.5 million. Plaintiff rejected the remittitur ordered by the court and requested a new trial on damages. Plaintiff and Merck subsequently entered into a confidential stipulation as to the amount of plaintiff’s damages that enabled Merck to appeal the underlying judgment, and Merck filed its appeal in the Boles case onin October 18, 2012. Prior to 2013, three other cases were tried to verdict in the Fosamax ONJ MDL. Defense verdicts in favor of Merck were returned in each of those three cases. Plaintiffs have filed an appeal in two of the cases – Graves v. Merck and Secrest v. Merck. On January 30, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the judgment in Merck’s favor in Secrest. On April 30, 2013, plaintiff in the Secrest case filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.

In February 2011, Judge Keenan ordered that there will be two further bellwether trials conducted in the Fosamax ONJ MDL. Spano v. Merck and Jellema v. Merck were selected by the court to be tried in 2012, but each case was dismissed by the plaintiffs. OnIn March 28, 2012, the court selected Scheinberg v. Merck as the next case to be tried. Trial in the Scheinberg case began on January 14, 2013 and, on February 5, 2013, the jury returned a mixed verdict, finding in favor of Merck on plaintiff’s design defect claim, and finding in favor of plaintiff on her failure to warn claim and awarding her $285 thousand in compensatory damages. On March 5, 2013, Merck filed a post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law in the Scheinberg case and that motion is still pending.

Outside the Fosamax ONJ MDL, in Florida, Carballo v. Merck was set for trial on October 15, 2012, but plaintiff dismissed the case and refiled it in the Fosamax ONJ MDL. Anderson v. Merck had been set for trial on January 14, 2013, but plaintiff dismissed the case prior to trial.In November 2011, Judge Keenan issued an order requiring plaintiffs who do not allege certain types of specific injuries to provide expert reports in support of their claims. The deadlines for submission of these reports are staggered throughout the first half of 2013, and failure to comply with the order may result in dismissal of a plaintiff’s claim. The first deadline passed on February 20, 2013, and Merck submitted to the court on February 27, 2013 a list of several hundred plaintiffs who failed to comply with that first deadline. On March 13, 2013, Judge Keenan ordered that those plaintiffs who failed to provide reports by the February 20, 2013 deadline had 30 days to provide the required reports or, upon motion, the case may be dismissed with prejudice and/or the court may impose sanctions for failure to comply. To date, more than 225 plaintiffs subject to the order have dismissed their claims with prejudice.

 

In addition, in July 2008, an application was made by the Atlantic County Superior Court of New Jersey requesting that all of the Fosamax cases pending in New Jersey be considered for mass tort designation and centralized management before one judge in New Jersey. In October 2008, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered that all pending and future actions filed in New Jersey arising out of the use of Fosamax and seeking damages for existing dental and jaw-related injuries, including ONJ, but not solely seeking medical monitoring, be designated as a mass tort for centralized management purposes before Judge Carol E. Higbee in Atlantic County Superior Court. As of DecemberMarch 31, 20122013, approximately 260265 ONJ cases were pending against Merck in Atlantic County, New Jersey. In July 2009, Judge Higbee entered a Case Management Order (and various amendments thereto) setting forth a schedule that contemplates completing fact and expert discovery in an initial group of cases to be reviewed for trial. In February 2011, the jury in Rosenberg v. Merck, the first trial in the New Jersey coordinated proceeding, returned a verdict in Merck’s favor. In April 2012, the jury in Sessner v. Merck, the second case tried in New Jersey, also returned a verdict in Merck’s favor. Plaintiffs have filed an appeal in both cases. On March 25, 2013, the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed the judgment in Merck’s favor in the Rosenberg case.

In California, the parties are reviewing the claims of two plaintiffs in the Carrie Smith, et al. v. Merck case and the claims in Pedrojetti v. Merck. The cases of one or more of these plaintiffs may be tried in 2013.

Discovery is ongoing in the Fosamax ONJ MDL litigation, the New Jersey coordinated proceeding, and the remaining jurisdictions where Fosamax ONJ cases are pending. The Company intends to defend against these lawsuits.

Cases Alleging Femur Fractures

In March 2011, Merck submitted a Motion to Transfer to the JPML seeking to have all federal cases alleging Femur Fractures consolidated into one multidistrict litigation for coordinated pre-trial proceedings. The Motion to Transfer was granted in May 2011, and all federal cases involving allegations of Femur Fracture have been or will be transferred to a multidistrict litigation in the District of New Jersey (the “Fosamax Femur Fracture MDL”). As a result of the JPML order, approximately 8201,015 cases were pending in the Fosamax Femur Fracture MDL as of December March 31, 2012.2013. A Case Management Order has been entered that requires the parties to review 40 cases (later reduced to 33 cases). Judge Joel Pisano has selected four cases from that group to be tried as the initial bellwether cases in the Fosamax Femur Fracture MDL and has set an April 8, 2013 trial date for the . The first bellwether case, which will be Glynn v. Merck, began on April 8, 2013 and the jury returned a verdict in Merck’s favor on April 29, 2013. The Zessin v. Merck case is was set to be tried in September 2013; the Young v. Merck case is set to be tried in  but has been rescheduled for January 2014; the Young v. Merck and the Johnson v. Merck case is setcases are expected to be tried later in May 2014.

As of DecemberMarch 31, 20122013, approximately 2,075305 cases alleging Femur Fractures have been filed in New Jersey state court and are pending before Judge Higbee in Atlantic County Superior Court. The parties have selected an initial group of 30 cases to be reviewed through fact discovery. Judge Higbee has set March 11, 2013 as the date for the The first trial of the New Jersey state Femur Fracture cases, which will be Su v. Merck, began on March 11, 2013, but a mistrial was declared on March 28, 2013 after the plaintiff suffered a serious medical issue unrelated to her use of Fosamax that prevented her from proceeding with the trial. The next trial, Unanski v. Merck, is currently set to be tried beginning November 4, 2013.

     As of DecemberMarch 31, 20122013, approximately 420440 cases alleging Femur Fractures have been filed in California state court. A petition was filed seeking to coordinate all Femur Fracture cases filed in California state court before a single judge in Orange County, California. The petition was granted and Judge Steven Perk is now presiding over the coordinated proceedings. No scheduling order has yet been entered.

Additionally, there are eightnine Femur Fracture cases pending in other state courts. A trial date has been set for August 12, 2013 for the Barnes v. Merck case pending in Alabama state court.

Discovery is ongoing in the Fosamax Femur Fracture MDL and in state courts where Femur Fracture cases are pending and the Company intends to defend against these lawsuits.

Januvia/Janumet

 

As of March 31, 2013, there were 43 filed complaints against Merck alleging that plaintiffs’ use of Januvia and/or Janumet caused them to develop pancreatic cancer. These complaints were filed in several different state and federal courts, with the majority filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. On April 5, 2013, a law firm representing certain plaintiffs filed a request with the JPML to create a federal MDL for lawsuits alleging pancreatic cancer due to use of the following medicines: Januvia, Janumet, and Byetta and Victoza, the latter two of which are products manufactured by other pharmaceutical companies. In its MDL request, the law firm asked the JPML to appoint Judge Anthony Battaglia of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California as the MDL Judge. On April 29, 2013, Merck and the other defendant manufacturers individually filed responses, all of which agreed that Judge Battaglia should preside if the JPML determines that an MDL is warranted. The Company intends to defend against these lawsuits.

We will, as ever, keep you informed, as the next Fosamax trial date approaches.