Intentional Misrepresentation Creates Sales Rep Liability, Plaintiff Says

NEW ORLEANS - A Mississippi plaintiff seeking to remand his federal Vioxx MDL case has asserted that he did not fraudulently join a Merck & Co. Inc. sales representative because Mississippi law permits causes of action where the salesperson knowingly misrepresents the safety of a drug to physicians. In Re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1657 (E.D. La.).

In a Feb. 13 motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, V. J. Robinson says that Merck's removal based on diversity jurisdiction was improper because the manufacturer claimed that any alleged omissions of fact made …