Merck to Fund U.S. VIOXX® Product Liability Resolution Program

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., July 17, 2008 - Merck & Co., Inc. said today that it is satisfied that the thresholds necessary to trigger funding of the program to resolve state and federal VIOXX myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemic stroke (IS) claims in the United States will be met.  In fact, the Company expressed its confidence that sufficient enrollments will be verified to exceed the participation threshold requirements.  More than 97 percent of eligible claimants now have initiated enrollment in the program.

The Claims Administrator, BrownGreer PLC, continues to receive and verify supporting documentation for some of these enrollments, but the Company has already received releases from approximately 95 percent of eligible claimants.  The Company expects that the distribution of interim payments to qualified claimants will begin in August and will continue on a rolling basis until all claimants who qualify for an interim payment are paid.  Final payments will be made after all of the eligible claims have been examined.

The Claims Administrator is reporting to U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon in New Orleans today that more than 48,500 of the approximately 50,000 individuals who have registered eligible injuries have enrolled in the program and that the vast majority of enrolled individuals have submitted releases and other materials for verification. 

The parties continue to verify and correct the documentation on these enrolled claims. When that process is completed, Merck is confident that all participation threshold requirements provided in the Agreement will be exceeded by wide margins. The thresholds are: (a) 85 percent or more of all eligible myocardial infarction (MI) claims; (b) 85 percent or more of all eligible ischemic stroke (IS) claims; (c) 85 percent or more of all eligible claims claiming death as an injury; and (d) 85 percent or more of all eligible claims alleging more than 12 months of use.  Enrolled claimants will not be eligible to have their claims evaluated for possible payment until they have completed the submission of all required documentation in proper form.
 
"This is an important milestone that shows the resolution program is on track," said Bruce N. Kuhlik, executive vice president and general counsel of Merck.  "Enough claims have been verified for Merck to fund the program.  All parties continue to work hard in good faith on an orderly, documented and objective process that examines each claim to determine if individuals are qualified to receive a payment."

Under the terms of the agreement, Merck could exercise a right to walk away from the agreement if the thresholds and other requirements were not met.  The Company said that it would be waiving that right as of Aug. 4, 2008.  The waiver of that right will trigger Merck's obligation to pay a fixed total of $4.85 billion.  Payments will be made in installments into the resolution fund, with the first payment of $500 million scheduled for Aug. 6, 2008.  Additional payments will be made on a periodic basis going forward, when and as needed to fund payments of claims and administrative expenses.

Merck also announced that it expects the first interim payments under the Agreement to commence before the end of August.  The Claims Administrator expects that before the end of August it will have evaluated more than 2,500 individual claim packages submitted on behalf of claimants qualified to receive interim payments under the resolution program.  This is sufficient to trigger the interim payment process as provided in the Agreement.

Interim payments are expected to be authorized by the Claims Administrator on a rolling basis to claimants alleging an MI injury or sudden cardiac death who enrolled by the March 31, 2008 deadline for those payments and whose claims have been found qualified for payment by the Claims Administrator under the guidelines set forth in the Agreement.  Interim payments are calculated at 40 percent of the then-currently estimated total final payment; the exact amounts of final payments cannot be calculated until all claims have been processed.  Interim payments to qualified claimants alleging ischemic stroke will follow beginning in or after February 2009.  Final payments to qualified claimants, including those who were not eligible for interim payments, will be made after all claims have been processed.  The Company's action today automatically extends to Oct. 30, 2008 the enrollment deadline for eligible U.S. claimants who had lawsuits pending or tolling agreements as of Nov. 9, 2007, which is the date the agreement was signed.

In 2007, the Company recorded a pretax charge of $4.85 billion, which represents the fixed amount to be paid by the Company to settle qualifying claims.

Forward-Looking Statement
This news release 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 news 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, 2007, and in any risk factors or cautionary statements contained in the Company's periodic reports on Form 10-Q or current reports on Form 8-K, which the Company incorporates by reference.

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