International Union of Operating Engineers Local No. 68 Welfare Fund v. Merck & Co.

In July 2005, a Law Division judge granted the motion of plaintiff International Union of Operating Engineers Local # 68 Welfare Fund “to certify a nationwide class of third-party[,] non-government payors who ... paid any person or entity for the purchase of a prescription anti-inflammatory arthritis and acute pain medication marketed by defendant Merck & Company, Inc. ... under the brand name Vioxx.” The Appellate Division affirmed that decision and defendant moved for leave to appeal to this Court.

We granted that motion for leave to appeal, agreeing to consider the propriety of the order…