BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Aug. 12, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- A pending class action charges Merck & Co., Inc. ("Merck" or the "Company") (NYSE:MRK) with misleading investors about its business and financial condition according to the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Plaintiff seeks damages for violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all investors who purchased Merck & Co., Inc. securities between July 23, 1999 and June 20, 2002 (the "Class Period").
Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP has prosecuted shareholder class actions for over fourteen years and has recovered more than $1 billion for investors. If you are a shareholder of Merck & Co., Inc. and want to learn more about this lawsuit and about becoming a lead plaintiff, you may visit our website at http://www.sbclasslaw.com/cgi/signup.cgi.
The complaint alleges that the New Jersey-based Merck & Co., Inc. issued numerous statements and filed quarterly and annual reports with the SEC which described the Company's increasing revenues and financial performance. As alleged in the complaint, these statements were materially false and misleading because they 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.
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.
If you purchased Merck & Co., Inc. securities between July 23, 1999 and June 20, 2002, you may be a member of the class and have until August 30, 2002 to move the court to become a lead plaintiff. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the class, however, you do not need to take any action at this time. Should you decide to seek appointment as a lead plaintiff, you may retain Schiffrin & Barroway, or retain counsel of your choice.
To learn more about your rights and interests in this case and your ability to potentially recoup your losses, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Stuart L. Berman, Esq.) directly at 888-299-7706 (toll free) or 610-822-2221, fax number 610-822-0002, e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com or visit our website at www.sbclasslaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca