(RTTNews) -  Merck (MRK: News ) said that Travis County, Texas District Court Judge Scott H. Jenkins granted Merck's motion for summary judgment, dismissing all claims in a VIOXX-related lawsuit filed on behalf of the State of Texas.

In that case, which was filed in 2005 by the Texas Attorney General's Office, the state sought damages and penalties from Merck for alleged violations of the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act, or TMFPA, including a refund of all monies that the state had spent on VIOXX.

In its motion for summary judgment, Merck maintained, among other things, that the evidence showed that the company acted responsibly and truthfully in its communications about VIOXX with the State of Texas, doctors in the state and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Merck further pointed out that the TMFPA was not designed to apply to claims such as those brought by the state, and that the state had failed to elicit any evidence demonstrating that Merck had caused the state damages. After reviewing the briefs of the parties and hearing oral argument, the court rejected the state's claims, dismissing each of them with prejudice.
Further, a trial in the case filed against Merck by the Louisiana Attorney General is scheduled to begin in federal court in New Orleans on April 12, 2010.

Merck has and will continue to vigorously defend all of these cases.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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