Merck settles

So Merck has settled with the Vioxx plaintiffs. I wonder if their legal counsel, which was reportedly costing them $600m per annum, was anything like the school of suited sharks portrayed in Michael Clayton. (The plaintiffs' lawyers probably are...)

At the time I saw that movie I reflected that in my own experience in the communications business, bad corporate ethics calls are less likely to be the result of the machinations of cynical and sociopathic clever people than institutionalised incompetence − often enough exacerbated by the interactions of uncommonly dumb people. Hollywood likes its baddies to be knowing and smart however.

Update: MRK up $2 so far today. Yay!