Over 3,000 already signed on for Vioxx settlement

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - More than 3,000 former users of Merck & Co's withdrawn Vioxx pain drug have already signed up to take part in a $4.85 billion settlement deal that a federal judge on Friday declared was in the best interests of both sides.

Attorneys for Merck and plaintiffs who claim to have been harmed by Vioxx were in U.S. District Court to give a status report on the settlement to Judge Eldon Fallon, who had presided over all federal Vioxx trials and is overseeing the settlement process.

"I believe this program will work and that it will be in the best interests of all concerned," Fallon declared after receiving reports from attorneys.

A total of 57,167 potential participants have registered claims by this week's deadline and 3,065 have already opted to enroll in the settlement, which was announced in November.

Registrants will be divided into Vioxx users who had suffered heart attacks and those who suffered strokes after taking the pain medicine. Merck needs 85 percent of registered plaintiffs in each category to sign on to the settlement for the deal to move forward.

"We continue to expect to meet and exceed the enrollment thresholds, but we don't know when that will occur," said Ted Mayer, an outside counsel for Merck.

There are a series of enrollment deadlines over the coming months with a final opt-in date of October 30, a spokesman for Merck's legal team said.

Asked the most important thing to come out of Friday's hearing, Mayer said: "We have over 57,000 claims submitted for registration and that the enrollment process is underway."

(Reporting by Russell McCulley; writing by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Brian Moss)