A U.S. judge has allowed a group of former Abbott Laboratories employees to go to trial in their class action lawsuit against the company. The employees are claiming retirement plan benefits lost in Abbott´s spin-off to create Hospira.

Merck said about 94 percent of eligible claimants have already agreed to the $4.85 billion Vioxx settlement’s terms. The company has extended until June 30 the deadline for claimants to submit paperwork showing they took Vioxx and suffered an adverse CV event or a stroke event as a result. In November, Merck agreed to settle a massive set of lawsuits over painkiller Vioxx for $4.85 billion. Not bad, considering the company was facing an estimated $20 billion in liability

Germany’s Bayer pulled Trasylol from the worldwide market in November 2007 after a spate of reports linked its anti-bleeding Trasylol to increased risk of kidney damage, heart failure and stroke. Bayer CEO told a shareholder’s meeting that the drugmaker is facing 78 lawsuits in the U.S. over fatal outcomes

Eighteen states have filed a lawsuit in federal court against Abbott Laboratories, alleging the drug maker blocked generic competition for the prescription drug TriCor, a popular cholesterol medication. Sales generated by this drug reached $ 1 billion dollars in 2007.

The trial involving Eli Lilly & Co´s anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa is in day 13 in Anchorage, Alaska, and speculation on the results is rife in pharmaceutical and law circles. Eli Lilly is accused of failing to warn the schizophrenia treatment could cause diabetes, costing the state’s Medicaid program millions of dollars. The company denies the accusations, saying the warnings have always been labeled. Zyprexa is Eli Lilly´s top-selling psychiatric drug.

A California mother has filed a lawsuit against drugmaker Novartis AG over its OTC Triaminic kids’ cough and cold medicine. Novartis believes it to be the first proposed class action involving its recalled product

Alaska is home to the first jury trial against Eli Lilly, who is alleged to have not taken the steps to warn doctors in dew fashion of increased risk of serious side effects (diabetes and weight gain) in patients prescribed with Zyprexa, an . A retired medical officer with the Food and Drug Administration testified that drug maker downplayed the health risks to make more money.

An Arkansas jury has awarded Donna Scroggin, who blamed Wyeth’s hormone replacement drugs Premarin and Prempro for her breast cancer, $2.75 million dollars in compensatory damages against Wyeth and co-defendant Upjohn. It later awarded $19,360,000 in punitive damages against Wyeth and $7,760,000 against Upjohn. Wyeth will appeal. Full story.

The first jury trial over the risks from Eli Lilly’s antipsychotic Zyprexa is to be held in Anchorage, Alaska, in a state lawsuit against the U.S. company demanding it pay for the medical expenses of Medicaid patients who contracted diabetes or other diseases after taking the antipsychotic drug. Full story.