(RTTNews) -  Drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK: News ) said Monday that it received a favorable ruling in a district court in Texas, where the judge dismissed all claims in a lawsuit related to its anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx filed on behalf of the State of Texas. ''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,'' the Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based company said in a statement. A summary judgment is a determination made by a court in a civil litigation, without a full trial.

Vioxx, a blockbuster drug, was used widely in the arthritis and pain-relief market for nearly five years in the U.S. It was a revenue spinner for Merck, until it was withdrawn from the market in 2004 as it was suspected to increase cardiovascular risk. It had been marketed in more than 80 countries and had sales totaling $2.5 billion in 2003.

Merck said Monday that the lawsuit was filed in 2005 by the Texas Attorney General's Office, in which 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 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 said in its argument 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.
Merck said it vigorously defended the lawsuit for over four years in Texas state court in Austin. By dismissing the claims, the court concluded that a trial of the state's claims was not necessary, the company added.

Commenting on the ruling, Bruce Kuhlik, executive vice president and general counsel of Merck, said, "We are gratified with the court's ruling. Merck remains committed to communications that help patients and their physicians choose medicines based on accurate, fair and balanced information."

The Texas case was the first of twelve similar lawsuits filed by state attorneys general around the country to reach a final judgment at the trial court level. 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.

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