Settlement proposed in Merck suits

Merck & Co. would have to appoint two new independent committees and a chief medical officer to monitor the safety of its medicines and drugs in development, under a proposed settlement to end long-running shareholder suits brought over the company's former painkiller Vioxx.

The onetime blockbuster drug was pulled from the market in 2004 because it doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Thousands of lawsuits brought by patients, their survivors, and others alleged Merck officials knew about those risks and hid them. Merck reached a $4.85 billion settlement in 2007 to answer most of the lawsuits.

Merck, of White House Station, N.J., has major operations in the Philadelphia area.

The new settlement also requires Merck to pay $12.15 million in attorney fees for the plaintiffs. It would end numerous lawsuits consolidated in New Jersey that have been brought by Merck stockholders.

The settlement called for Merck, the world's second-biggest drugmaker, to fill a previously announced position of chief medical officer. Merck filled the position in December when it named Michael Rosenblatt, former dean of the Tufts University School of Medicine, as executive vice president and chief medical officer.

Rosenblatt will be the company's public voice on product-safety issues, be independent of Merck Research Laboratories, work with government regulators, and oversee the truthfulness of product advertising. He will report directly to Merck's chief executive, serve on the company's executive committee, and be able to meet with other board members without any Merck executives being present.

Rosenblatt also would serve on two new committees Merck must establish under the proposed settlement.

The settlement must be approved by a New Jersey judge. Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee has scheduled a final hearing on the settlement for March 22 in Atlantic City.