A federal judge has appointed a law professor to oversee settlement talks in hundreds of lawsuits filed against Merck in the U.S. alleging that its bisphosphonate drug Fosamax caused osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ).
On November 22, John Feerick, a law professor at Fordham University, was appointed special settlement master for all federal lawsuits involving Fosamax and ONJ, according to a story on injuryboards.com.
Feerick will attempt to facilitate a Fosamax settlement agreement between Merck and plaintiffs who claim that the drug caused them to develop ONJ. If he is unsuccessful, the court may remand individual lawsuits back to the federal district courts where they were originally filed for individual trials throughout the U.S.
Some 1,000 ONJ/Fosamax lawsuits have been filed in federal court against Merck, with another 200 cases pending in New Jersey and other state courts.
In four cases that have gone to trial, the jury found in favor of Merck. In one case, the plaintiff won following a retrial and was awarded $8 million by the jury. That amount has since been reduced to $1.5 million.
