Merck announced last week that almost 1400 lawsuits have been filed related to Vioxx to date. Many of these have been consolidated in US District Court in New Orleans, including over a hundred that are class-action suits.

Over 20 million Americans have taken Vioxx, and Merck expects the volume of lawsuits to increase substantially.

In comparison, Wyeth Labs' "Fen-phen" diet drug has resulted in over 60,000 lawsuits as the company has reserved over $21 billion to cover the litigation.
Source Insurance Journal