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Merck To Restructure After Suits

Merck, the number three U.S. drug maker, faces billions of dollars in liability from 6,400 lawsuits filed against the company over its recalled Vioxx painkiller, and is now expected to announce a major restructuring on Monday involving as many as several thousand job cuts.

Top company officials briefed Merck`s board at a meeting on Tuesday about a restructuring plan`s final details, including cuts in operations within and outside the United States and a tighter focus on certain disease-research areas, the newspaper says.

The Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based company is also preparing for sales declines from its Zocor cholesterol drug, which loses patent protection next year, and Fosamax osteoporosis treatment, off patent in 2008.