PSC: Factors Favoring Insurance Discovery Outweigh Burdens, Confidentiality

NEW ORLEANS - Plaintiffs in the federal Vioxx MDL seeking insurance-related discovery have asserted that the documents Merck & Co. Inc. has provided contain insufficient information to understand the manufacturer's 'complex insurance system and its volatile changes during the Vioxx era.' In Re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1657 (E.D. La.).

In a Feb. 8 surreply filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee maintains its opposition to Merck and nine of its insurers' motion for a protective order preventing plaintiffs from conducting or requesting insurance-related depositions or documents.

The Jan. …