VIOXX^® Information Center

MONTREAL, March 30, 2009 - Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. has learned that the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan has issued a decision allowing Merck's appeal and quashing an order of the Court of Queen's Bench that had certified a class proceeding on behalf of Canadian residents of all provinces except Quebec who purchased or ingested VIOXX.

The three-Justice panel of the Court of Appeal concluded unanimously that the lower court had erred in finding that the plaintiffs had established an identifiable class, in defining common issues, and in holding that a class action represents the preferable procedure for resolving the claims.  In her opinion for the Court, Madam Justice Smith concluded,  "It is my view that this action vastly over-reaches what is reasonably manageable in a class action in a fair and efficient way."
"In short," wrote Madam Justice Smith, "the diversity of claims sought to be asserted, combined with the lack of clarity of what facts are alleged in relation to each, present insurmountable challenges, in my view, to the identification of issues which are common to all claims and therefore to all members of the class."   

"We are pleased that the Court of Appeal agreed with us that the court below erred in certifying this action as a class,"  said Maurice Laprairie, Q.C. of MacPherson, Leslie & Tyerman LLP, Saskatchewan counsel for Merck Frosst and Merck & Co., Inc.  "We argued against the creation, and later expansion, of a class, because each plaintiff's case is unique and depends on an individual set of facts." 

"The Company intends to defend these cases vigorously over the coming years, and we are confident that the courts will decide these cases based on sound science," said Neil Finkelstein, of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Canadian national counsel for Merck Frosst and Merck & Co., Inc. 

The evidence will show that Merck acted responsibly - from researching VIOXX prior to approval in clinical trials involving almost 10,000 patients - to monitoring the medicine while it was on the market - to voluntarily withdrawing the medicine in September 2004.

About Merck Frosst Canada Ltd.

At Merck Frosst, patients come first.  Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. is a research-driven pharmaceutical company.  Merck Frosst discovers, develops and markets a broad range of innovative medicines to improve human health.  The Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research, one of the largest biomedical research facilities in Canada, has the mandate to discover new therapies for the treatment of infectious diseases.  More information about Merck Frosst is available at http://www.merckfrosst.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

 This statement contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These statements are based on management's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements.  The forward-looking statements may include statements regarding product development, product potential or financial performance.  No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from those projected.  Merck undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.  Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Merck's business, particularly those mentioned in the risk factors and cautionary statements in Item 1A of Merck's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, and in its periodic reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, which the Company incorporates by reference.