Dollars and Jens
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Where Dante Never Set Foot
"So, Steven, are there people whom you'd put in a lower circle of Hell than conscienceless murderers, traitors, and people who talk in movie theaters?"
Yes, as a matter of fact. Yes there are.
The law firm of Stull Stull & Brody said Tuesday that an amended complaint was filed against Merck & Co. on behalf of investors.Granted, when management really Kozlowskis a company, shareholders should have recourse against said management, but not against the company and its new shareholders. Even so, most lawsuits by shareholders and former shareholders are pure sour grapes by people who either simply made a bad decision or rolled snake-eyes, and this looks like it fits the bill. If managers tell blatant lies to their shareholders, they should be suspended, preferably by their toes. But if a lawsuit is predicated on "fail[ure] to disclose... sales" before managers are legally required to announce -- to their shareholders and to their competitors -- how much they've been selling, that lawsuit should result in capital punishment. For the plaintiffs' lawyers.
In a press release Tuesday, the firm said Merck's filings describing its increasing revenue and financial performance were "false and misleading" because they failed to disclose the impact that safety concerns about Vioxx had on sales of the drug and liability Merck was facing as a result of lawsuits related to Vioxx.
