Judge: Staying State's Vioxx Suit Avoids Unnecessarily Prejudicing Merck

DENVER - A federal judge has stayed proceedings in a state's taxpayer derivative Vioxx action pending its possible transfer to the federal Vioxx MDL, saying that Merck & Co. Inc. would be unnecessarily prejudiced if it had to defend similar suits in multiple jurisdictions. Franklin v. Merck & Co. Inc., No. 06-2164 (D. Colo.).

In a Jan. 24 order, Judge Wiley Y. Daniel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado said that while plaintiff James Franklin, on behalf of the State of Colorado, may suffer some prejudicial delay resulting from a stay, the potential prejudice to Merck …