Plaintiffs' Case Against Merck Remanded After Judge Severs Vioxx Claim

SAN FRANCISCO - The severed Vioxx-related claims of a woman who sued Merck after allegedly suffering an injury in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber have been remanded to state court even though the plaintiff's original complaint didn't name Merck as a defendant. Edsall v. Merck & Co. Inc., No. 05-2244 (N.D. Calif.).

In an Aug. 4 Memorandum and Order, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that because complete diversity did not exist at the time Merck was joined to the complaint, and because severance of the Vioxx-related claims was not initiated …