ATLANTA, July 11, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Holzer & Holzer today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK); ("Merck" or the "Company") publicly traded securities during the period between July 1, 1999 and June 21, 2002, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A copy of the complaint filed is available from the Court or by contacting Holzer & Holzer (toll-free) at (888) 508-6832 or by sending an e-mail to michaelfisteljr@msn.com.
The complaint alleges that Merck and certain of its officers and directors issued false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. Specifically, the complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, defendants issued numerous statements and filed quarterly and annual reports with the SEC, which described the Company's increasing revenues and financial performance.
The complaint alleges that these statements were materially false and misleading because they allegedly failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (i) that the Company had materially overstated its revenues (by roughly $4.6 billion in year 2001 alone) by improperly including as revenue the value of co-payments made by consumers to their pharmacies (since the entire amount of the co-payment is paid directly to, and retained by, the pharmacy); (ii) that the financial statements prepared and filed by defendants during the Class Period were not prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") because neither Merck nor its Medco unit ever received any revenue from the co-payments that were made to pharmacies; and (iii) that as a result, defendants' statements concerning the size of the Company's revenues and financial results were lacking in a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
The complaint alleges that on June 21, 2002, The Wall Street Journal published an article, which revealed that Merck had boosted its reported revenues by billions of dollars (by roughly $4.6 billion in year 2001 alone) by improperly including as revenue the value of co-payments made by consumers with a prescription-drug card to their pharmacy to cover their portion of the cost of a prescription under an insurance plan. The complaint further alleges that following this report, shares of Merck fell $2.22 per share to close at $49.98 per share, after reaching a Class Period high of $94.875 on November 29, 2000, on volume of more than 15.2 million shares traded, or more than twice the average daily volume.
If you bought Merck publicly traded securities between July 1, 1999 and June 21, 2002, inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than August 30, 2002. In order to serve as a lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. If you have any questions about your rights with respect to this lawsuit, you may contact Holzer & Holzer, Michael I. Fistel, Jr., Esq. (toll-free) at (888) 508-6832, or inquire via e-mail to michaelfisteljr@msn.com.
Holzer & Holzer has substantial experience representing investors in securities fraud class action lawsuits such as this. Holzer & Holzer is located in Atlanta, GA, but represents investors in securities class action lawsuits throughout the nation. If you have any questions about how you may be able to recover for your losses, or if you would like to consider serving as one of the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit, you are encouraged to call the Firm.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca