[U] BREAKING: It Would Appear Merck Has Agreed To Settle 562 State MCL AND Federal MDL Propecia®/Proscar® Cases...

UPDATED @ 10 AM EDT on 04.10.2018: Unrelated, but Mr. Frazier was paid quite a lot of money last year -- about 215 times what an average Merck employee makes. I unequivocally believe he is very near the top, among the most competent CEOs in multinational public companies in the pharmaceuticals and life sciences spaces. It is impossible to say whether he is "worth" the money he is paid (as all these numbers seem so wildly-inflated, compared to an the median worker's $85,000 annual salary and bonus at Merck) -- but it is true that he is being paid about what he'd earn at other similar companies, were he to jump ship -- and that would be very bad for Kenilworth. So while I might be tempted to say that I think $17.6 million is a lot of money for a year's work -- it probably makes sense, at a $42 billion company. [End updated portion.]

This will be splashed all over the papers tomorrow.

But you -- dear faithful, loyal and abiding readers -- you. . . may see it right here tonight (as a two page PDF file), exclusively. Just hot off the PACER wire:

. . . .The undersigned counsel for the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (“PEC”) and Merck & Co., Inc. and Merck Sharp & Dohme, Inc. (“Merck”) (collectively, the Parties) write to advise the Court that a Master Settlement Agreement (“MSA”) was executed earlier today that establishes a settlement program seeking to resolve the claims of 562 cases pending in this MDL and the Consolidated State Court Action in New Jersey. Because the terms and conditions of the MSA and the Proposed Plan for Allocation of Settlement Funds (“Allocation Plan”) are confidential, the Parties submit this letter to the Court directly. Specifically, the purpose of this letter is to apprise the Court of the MSA and to outline the Parties’ plan to submit settlement materials to the Court [under seal, tomorrow, April 10, 2018]. . . .

Finally, because the Parties have executed the MSA, they jointly request a stay of the litigation, including but not limited to Reply briefing in the four bellwether cases under Practice and Procedure Order No. 15, as amended, until August 15, 2018 to evaluate which claims will participate in the Settlement Program. . . .

Now you know. Good for Merck to have resolved these claims. . . though we wait to see what the price tag is, in the next SEC Form 10-Q (assuming the amount is presently immaterial, at least on probabilities). It may be that it is immaterial overall -- though SEC rules do not allow the company to count insurance recoveries, in assessing whether the settlement is material.

That said, we may never know what the actually-agreed total. . . was. If it is not material, there is no rule which requires disclosure. Now, sleep well all you little ones -- pancakes for dinner, with my baby-girl (down with a fever) -- and they were a hit, tonight!

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